


When Naruto Met Sasuke

by mickeylover303



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-08
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 07:59:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 48
Words: 166,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19437241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mickeylover303/pseuds/mickeylover303
Summary: Collection of interconnected, college AU one-shots. 48. Enamorado de Ti: “...you really did that for them?”





	1. Give and Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Did I ever tell you about the time your deceptively nice brother introduced me to his priceless sword collection?" ___

“You’re trying to send me to my death, aren’t you,” Naruto hisses while Sasuke tries to drag him by the elbow away from the bathroom. Blunt nails clawing at the doorframe unwillingly slip across the smooth surface in spite of the continuous protests from their owner.

“Shut up and be a man.”

“I am,” Naruto says, “because not going means being able to keep all the parts that make me a man. You know, all those parts you just so happen to like? I won’t be a man anymore if I lose them. And then what are we supposed to do for our anniversary next week? Or later on tonight even?”

“One night,” Sasuke says. He grits his teeth and manoeuvres Naruto down the hall and in front of the small TV appearing even smaller surrounded by various piles of books and folded clothes further crowding the already cramped apartment. “You promised me one night.”

“Did I ever tell you about the time your deceptively nice brother introduced me to his priceless sword collection? Right after he found out we were dating? Well, when we went to Yamaguchi for your aunt’s wedding, he showed me these pictures on his phone of that room in his condo, you know, the one with all those really, _really_ sharp and pointy things in all kinds of shapes and sizes that he said were even sharper and pointer than they appeared on the phone.

“At first I didn’t believe him, because he tried to convince me his phone—the DoCoMo one that just came out that April, right—had a camera capability as good as my Nikon. A phone like that could never replace my baby, but let me tell you, those swords didn’t look anything like the wooden one you used to hit me with in college.”

“So he likes to collect swords.” Sasuke reaches to undo Naruto’s messy attempt at fixing his tie, lifting the collar of Naruto’s white shirt and making a new knot. “Probably because he likes kendo, but that’s nothing new. He’s the one who sent me a new shinai when I told him your head broke the one that lasted me through high school.”

“Of course he did. You volunteered me to be your practice dummy.”

“That and I didn’t want to forget my basic drills.”

“That’s the same thing you claimed then.”

Sasuke shrugs. “You know Itachi taught me. That’s why I still keep up with it on the side.”

“Which is nice and all, but you’re missing the point I’m trying to make here.”

“Then make it.”

“He’s a ninth-dan, Sasuke.”

“I know. What about it?”

“A ninth-dan.” At Sasuke’s continued silence, Naruto glares at him with an irritated huff. “They don’t even award that grade anymore. And all those trophies Itachi has, they’re sitting around _not_ collecting dust for good rea—”

“Hold still.”

“Th—that’s too...tight.”

Sasuke licks the corner of his mouth and knocks away the hand Naruto begins to raise to pull on the tie. “I don’t see what my brother’s accomplishments in kendo have to do with anything.”

“Did I already mention that extremely sharp and pointy sword collection he has?” Naruto wheezes at the already constraining fabric being adjusted around his neck before Sasuke finally decides to loosen it a bit. “Because if I didn’t, I’ll be more than happy to tell you exactly what he told me about—”

“I have dinner with your parents sometimes. Why does it always have to be such a hassle to get you to have dinner with mine?”

“Uh, maybe I should bring up the fact that my parents actually _liked_ you the first time they met you?”

“Was that before or after you left me alone at your house, with a group of complete strangers that happened to be half of your family tree?” Sasuke says. “Since, despite all the instant ramen your mom strangely keeps stocked, you just had to go to the only convenience store open after ten—on the other side of the prefecture—to satisfy your craving for a packet of freeze-dried beef flavouring because you didn’t want chicken or miso.”

Glancing to the side, Naruto gives a nervous laugh. “Okay, so let’s not bring that back up, but still, I mean, does it really make me a coward if I say I’m not so confident about running into your mom and dad again?” After a moment, he adds, “Especially when it involves your brother.”

“Yes.”

“ _Sasuke_.”

“Naruto.”

“ _Sa_ - _suke_.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my parents. Or my brother.”

“No, it’s just me they see as the problem.”

Sasuke lets one hand fall to his side and runs the other through his hair. “They’re my family, Naruto. If nothing else, I expect you to respect that.”

“I do. Really, I do, except it’s...” Naruto sighs. He pushes his tongue against the back of his front teeth, placing his chin on Sasuke’s shoulder. “It’s hard to keep it up when it feels like they don’t think I’m good enough for you.”

“I think you’re good enough for me. That’s all that should matter.”

“Easier said than done when it’s not just the two of us.”

“If you don’t think you’re good enough for me by now, leave half the rent here and take the rest of your crap out the door.”

Naruto lifts his head and stares at Sasuke with wide eyes. “B-but, Sasuke, I...I have to wear a tie.”

“Stop complaining. I don’t like wearing ties, either, but you can take it off on the way back home.”

Naruto makes an exaggerated moan. “Didn’t you say this was supposed to be casual?”

“It is.”

“You’re making me wear a jacket and a stiff shirt and a tie.”

“I’m letting you wear jeans.”

“At one of the most expensive restaurants in Narita?” Naruto shakes his head. “We can barely afford an apartment this close to the city as it is.”

“You’ll live.”

“The scraps off the floor are probably worth more than half my paycheck. How the hell do you consider that kind of environment casual?”

“It’s casual for me,” Sasuke murmurs, focusing on straightening the lapels of Naruto’s light grey jacket that don’t require any more attention. “I just wanted to...”

“Sasuke, I...I know. I didn’t—”

“Besides, you’re not paying.”

“Yeah.” Naruto snorts. “Like that makes me feel any better. I still couldn’t afford it even if I wanted to. And that’s _only_ if the five of us share an appetizer, so it’s kind of a blow to my self-esteem, all right. Go easy on me.”

“Then consider this retribution for standing me up at the train station.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still not over that.”

When Sasuke refuses to speak, Naruto presses his lips together, narrowing his eyes at Sasuke.

“I can’t believe you’re still not over that, Sasuke. It happened what—two years ago?”

Taking a step back, Sasuke assess Naruto from the bottom up, finishing with a pointed look that eventually reaches Naruto’s gaze.

“Right.” Naruto rolls his eyes. “I forgot how long you can hold grudges.”

Fingers gripping the once immaculately placed tie, Sasuke yanks Naruto forward. “I don’t hold grudges.”

“Sure you don’t.”

A frown tugs at the corner of Sasuke’s mouth. “I don’t.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, okay, but you can’t say I didn’t know how to make up for it.” There’s a teasing glint in Naruto’s gaze that develops into something more sly. “You weren’t complaining when we—”

“Finish that sentence.”

“It’s kind of cute, though,” Naruto says, with a slight tilt of his head. “You being upset because you thought I stood you up on our first real, official date.”

“Because only a moron like you would walk around with a phone you don’t charge and then get lost on the Samatsu Line.”

“I found you eventually, didn’t I?”

“But I didn’t know then, so what was I supposed to think?”

“See? Even now you’re being all sentimental about it.”

Sasuke smirks. He releases his hold on Naruto’s tie then neatly arranges the tie and shirt to make them look presentable. “Sentimental, huh?”

“Yeah.” Naruto nods with a grin pressed against Sasuke’s cheek. “In a completely Sasuke way, of course.”

Sasuke pulls back. He watches Naruto with eyes a little more open, the beginning traces of a smile replacing his characteristic smirk making sharp features just a little bit softer.

Until his expression shifts into something decidedly uninviting.

“Make sure you have everything so we can go. Itachi’s flight should be landing soon. You need to be at the airport before the plane.”

The colour drains from Naruto’s face. “You didn’t say anything about meeting Itachi at the airport. I thought we were going straight to the restaurant? Aren’t your parents staying in a hotel—the same hotel Itachi’s supposed to already have checked in earlier?”

“His plane was delayed.”

“And you didn’t think this was something you could have shared beforehand?”

Sasuke makes his way towards the middle of the room. Slowly, he leans down without bending his knees to grab a set of keys and Naruto’s phone lying on the low coffee table. “Didn’t see a need to.”

Despite himself, Naruto’s mouth begins to form another grin. “You’re a vindictive bastard when you want to be, you know that?”

Sasuke hums absently in agreement. “That’s why you’re going alone.”

And then Naruto’s grin falters. “W-what?”

“I’m going to pick up my parents while you pick up Itachi. It’s after five already, and our reservations are for seven, so you’ll have to meet us there.”

“You want me to go to the airport alone? To pick up Itachi? By myself? Alone?”

“He suggested it. Not me.”

“And where was I in this decision?”

“Sleeping.”

Naruto ends his spluttering with a squeak Sasuke ignores.

Keys hidden in the palm of his hand, he turns back to face Naruto. He leans forward with his mouth almost brushing over Naruto’s bottom lip. “You better hurry if you’re going to make the 5:23 train.”

“...the train? Why are you sending me alone in that kind of confined space with Itachi?”

“Because unlike our parents, my brother doesn’t mind taking the train.” An arm goes around Naruto’s waist, and Sasuke slides the hand holding Naruto’s phone in the back pocket of dark jeans. He slips his hand out, leaving the phone inside the pocket and looking more than just a little pleased when he feels Naruto swallow the lump in his throat.

“Just think of it as incentive not to get lost this time.”


	2. One Step Behind You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"The seeds don't really make the peppers hot. It's the inner wall and the veins. I left those in."_

“Here.”

Closing the physics textbook on his lap, Naruto swings one arm over the back of the couch, crossing his legs and peering at Sasuke from beneath a pair of rimless glasses. “Hey, you’re finally using that utensil set I bought you.”

Sasuke pretends not to see the grin quick to form on Naruto’s face. His hand hovers beneath a wooden spoon filled with small pieces of meat and vegetables floating in a yellowish broth he holds towards Naruto’s mouth. “Try this.”

“...what’s in it?”

“Food,” Sasuke says, voice wry. “Try it.”

“It’s not that I don’t like your food,” Naruto says, eyes fixed on the spoon looming precariously closer and closer to his lips pressed tightly together. “Sometimes.”

The expression on his face is not at all wary, the flicker of fear barely even noticeable, or so he’d like to think, but when he draws his head back just the slightest bit, it’s still just enough to make Sasuke frown.

Then, following a particularly long pause, he adds, “Most of the time.”

Grip on the spoon tightening, the broth almost spilling on Naruto, Sasuke glares.

“What? It’s true. Don’t get mad at me because you’re not perfect at everything. Not my fault you can’t always—” 

Slowly, Sasuke pulls out the spoon he slid into Naruto’s mouth. He places one arm across his torso, his other hand brandishing the now somewhat clean spoon. “So?”

“It’s...” Taking a cautious swallow, Naruto says, “It’s good. Really good.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

“I’m not. It’s just that I don’t always know what to expect from you.” Licking his front teeth, Naruto drapes his arms over the back of the couch, leaning closer to Sasuke. “What is it exactly?”

“Some chicken soup recipe your mom sent me,” Sasuke says, biting down on his lower lip. “Ajiaco. I think.”

“Ah.”

Sasuke nods absently. “She said she chased down some street vendor in Bogotá to get it. And then your dad had to bribe the guy with their travel money so he wouldn’t report them to the local authorities.”

“Hm. I forgot they went to Colombia to work on that article. Sounds like something my mom’d do, though,” Naruto says. “You know I think it’s weird how you two keep in touch like that, right? I guess I should be glad she likes you so much, but still, I—”

Suddenly, Naruto goes rigid. His lips begin to tremble. His eyes start to water. His ears turn a bright red that spreads to the entirety of his face, eventually reaching his throat covered by both hands.

“What?”

A dry rasp is Naruto’s only response.

“It’s the tomatoes, isn’t it. Do they make it too sweet?” Sasuke licks the back of the spoon, unfazed by the loud thud when Naruto tumbles off the couch, since, apparently, Naruto still had the sense to take off his glasses before landing on the floor.

“I wanted to use Roma,” Sasuke says, “but I couldn’t find any that looked appealing this far out of season. The grape tomatoes didn’t look that much better, but the hybrid ones, even though I never liked those as much, they looked the best.”

“Can’t,” Naruto wheezes, slowly raising an arm that quickly falls,” ...bre—breathe.”

“Or is it the cumin?” Sasuke glances at Naruto, narrowing his eyes at the figure rolling around and gasping on the floor.

He tilts his head to the side in thought. “I don’t really care for it, either, but I wanted to try to make something more authentic—as much as I could being in Japan. Maybe. Not that the recipe called for that much cumin.”

“You know it’s not any damn cumin, Sasuke. The hell’s in that soup making it so hot _?_!”

“Habanero peppers.”

“You used the seeds?!” Breathing hard, with a hand gripping the arm of the couch, Naruto picks himself up from the floor. The glare he tries to give Sasuke all but wavers. “Didn’t my mom translate the recipe for you?! Because I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to use the seeds!”

“No, I took those out.”

“Do you not see me dying over here? Do you even care?”

“The seeds don’t really make the peppers hot. It’s the inner wall and the veins. I left those in.”

“You don’t care, do you.”

“You like my spicy tofu,” Sasuke says, brow knitted and fingers holding the spoon loosening. “How is this any different?”

“Well, we all can’t not have taste buds, can we?” Naruto hisses, but he’s already up and running towards the small kitchen area, dodging a pile of his own clothes he nearly trips over on the way.

Grudgingly, maybe even driven by a sizeable amount of guilt he won’t acknowledge, Sasuke follows, led to Naruto by the sound of running water.

He raises an eyebrow at the sight of Naruto’s head in the sink, mouth poised directly under the water surging from the faucet.

“Water won’t do much.” The spoon in Sasuke’s hand is dropped into the sink, narrowly avoiding Naruto when Naruto jerks from beneath the faucet to avoid being hit. “Milk’s better.”

The stream of curses that follows is garbled by the large mouthful of water Naruto gulps down. Sasuke, of course, again, ignores this, instead reaching for a small spoon from the drawer he pulls out behind him.

With another glare, interrupted by another wheeze, Naruto darts to the mini refrigerator. He throws the door open and falls to his knees, rummaging through empty juice and water bottles and containers of leftovers possibly on the verge of growing mould.

“Don’t tell me—”

“We’re out of milk,” Sasuke says, kneeling beside Naruto and reaching behind him to the freezer for a small litre of mint chip ice cream less than half full. He removes the lid and dips the spoon inside, then places the carton on the floor.

“Are you punishing me?” Naruto fans his mouth gaping with both hands. “What’d I ever do to you to deserve something like this?”

“You’re such a baby—come here.” Sasuke smacks away Naruto’s flailing arms. He holds Naruto’s head steady with a hand firm on his chin and shoves the spoonful of ice cream into Naruto’s mouth.

Predictably, it doesn’t take Naruto long to calm down. His eyes close. His breathing finally slows. His body begins to relax. But then he stills. And he opens his eyes almost comically wide.

“One more.”

Lips pursed, Sasuke watches while the spoon is snatched from his hand. Naruto picks up the carton from the floor and scrapes at the remaining ice cream. He stuffs his mouth with a considerably large spoonful, freezes for another moment, then sighs and extends his legs in a languid stretch.

He leans against Sasuke’s side, propped up by the wall behind his back, hand letting go of the spoon that falls to his lap.

With a snort, Sasuke throws the empty litre of ice cream into the trash bin, nudging closed the door to the fridge with his foot. “Better?”

The third attempt at a glare Naruto aims at Sasuke turns out more akin to a pout when coupled with the sulk of Naruto’s shoulders.

“You know,” he says, “I’m actually starting to think that if I didn’t already know how much you like me—like _really_ like me—your cooking probably would have killed me a long time ago.”

Sasuke kind of blushes, except—according to what he constantly tells Naruto—doesn’t, although he still tries to detract from the pale flush on both cheeks with a sneer rendered completely useless as he licks his thumb and wipes the ice cream trailing from the corner of Naruto’s mouth.

“Shut up.”


	3. Spell Me, You, Add the Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?"_

“We’re already here. Kind of pointless to back out now.”

“I’m not backing out on anything,” Sasuke says, frowning. “I’m only saying we should have called ahead.”

“Nah.” Naruto gives a slow wave of his hand. He grins beneath the light at the door. “My family likes surprises. Especially on weekends. It’s fine.”

Sasuke checks his phone for a third time. “It’s too late for this kind of visit.”

“Relax. I already said it was fine, didn’t I?” Naruto knocks on the door three times, pauses then knocks again two more times. 

“Don’t you have a key?”

“Yeah, but trust me,” Naruto says, “this is more fun.”

“I’ll get it!” comes a muffled yell from inside the house. There’s a soft padding of footsteps before the door opens to reveal a little girl with pale blonde hair pulled back into a long ponytail.

“Who’d come around here so la—Naruto!”

“You say it like you were expecting someone else,” Naruto says, feigning a short-lived disappointment that’s replaced with a wide smile.

“Really?” The girl stands akimbo with her head tilted to the side, wearing a smile just as wide as Naruto’s. “You haven’t come by to see us in months, and that’s the best you can do?”

Naruto chuckles. “Where’re mom and dad?”

“In the office with Tsunade and Jiraiya.”

“The old hag and the pervert are here? Really?”

Sasuke looks at Naruto.

“Aunt and uncle. But those names just kind of stuck after a while. More fitting, too. You’ll understand when you meet them.”

Taking her hands off her hips, the girl hums, nodding in agreement. Her gaze turns towards Sasuke, eyes widening. “Hey, who’s—”

“Naruto’s here?” There’s a second cry from within the house, looming closer with the sound of light and hurried footfalls.

Another little girl tumbles straight into the back of first girl, short pink hair hiding the face pressed against the blonde girl’s shoulder.

She straightens and murmurs a quick apology to the blonde girl before pursing her lips at Naruto. “You’re so mean to always keep doing this to us, Naruto. Coming home without letting anybody know.”

“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

“ _Naru_ —” the second girl begins, voice inured and far too admonishing for someone who looks her age, but she falters when she takes notice of Sasuke, eyes large and mouth slightly ajar.

She doesn’t stop staring.

Sasuke stiffens, then tries to step back, but Naruto keeps him from making any progress with a hold on his arm.

“You guys remember my friend from school I told you about before?” Naruto says. “This is Sasuke.”

The hand around his arm pulls Sasuke forward.

“Sasuke, these are my sisters.”

“Hi, Sasuke, I’m Ino,” the blonde girl says. She smirks with an elbow settled on her sister’s shoulder. “And this is Sakura. Say hi to Sasuke, Forehead.”

Naruto releasing his arm, Sasuke schools his features and gives a slight nod of his head. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi, Sasuke, it’s, um,” Sakura stammers, a layer of pink dusted across her cheeks, “it’s nice to—to meet you...meet you, too.”

Ino laughs. “Forehead’s got a crush.”

“Quiet, Ino.” Gaze down, Sakura blushes even further, digging the toe of her My Melody slippers into the floor and playing with the hem of her light blue shorts.

“So you and Naruto go to the same school. Are you a third-year like him?” Ino doesn’t wait for Sasuke to answer as she turns from him to squint at Naruto. “How come you never brought him over before, huh?”

With a playful growl, Naruto reaches with both hands to tickle Ino’s sides. “Maybe because I knew a little brat like you would probably scare him off.”

“Naruto!” Ino giggles, making a half-hearted attempt to push Naruto’s hands away.

Sakura finally looks up, pushing hair strayed in front of her face behind her ear. “...Sasuke, are you,” she says, “are you an idol?”

Sasuke coughs, almost chokes at the words, and Naruto starts to snicker until Sasuke quiets him with a none too gentle nudge from an elbow in Naruto’s side.

“Come on, Forehead,” Ino says, fingers around Sakura’s wrist dragging her away from Sasuke and Naruto. “Mom, Naruto’s here!” she calls out, then lowers her voice, “close your mouth before you catch flies, Sakura. It’s not attractive.”

They disappear down a relatively short hallway, speaking in hushed whispers as Naruto steps into the foyer area, pulling a rigid Sasuke alongside him.

“You didn’t tell me you had sisters.”

“And somehow this still doesn’t compare to how I felt after meeting your brother.”

For now, Sasuke ignores the barb. “You have sisters.”

“Yeah.” Naruto laughs at the pinched expression on Sasuke’s face. “I know it’s obvious we don’t really look alike. That’s because we adopted them, but they’re still my sisters, you know.”

“No, it’s not that. Sakura, she...”

“What can I say?” Naruto winks. “We have the same tastes.”

“I’m twenty-one,” Sasuke says. “Sakura looks like she’s twelve.”

“That’s because she is twelve. Ino is, too.”

There’s a tic above Sasuke’s right eye. “Twelve, Naruto.”

“Give them a break. You know how girls are at that age. And then someone like _you_ shows up at the door.” Naruto says , taking his shoes off by the door. He wriggles his eyebrows. “Now hurry up so I can show you my old room.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes but follows, taking off his shoes and placing them beside Naruto’s.

“I’m home, everybody!”

Wincing at the proximity of Naruto’s voice, Sasuke follows him into the kitchen, where Naruto heads straight for the cabinet above the refrigerator. He can only stare when Naruto throws the door wide open.

“Is that...”

“A cabinet full of the best brand of instant ramen this side of Chiba?” Naruto grins at Sasuke. “Yeah.”

Sasuke sighs, feels a little part of himself die while he watches Naruto dig around in the cabinet.

He looks away as Ino and Sakura slip into the kitchen. Sakura takes a seat on the stool at the counter, and Ino tries not to smile with her lips pressed together as she stands conspicuously close to Sasuke.

He raises an eyebrow at her.

“Your hair looks so different. I’ve never seen anything like it up close because they don’t let us do that sort of thing in school. Can I touch it?”

However, before Sasuke has the chance to say no, Ino’s already standing on the toes of her Badtz-Maru slippers reaching for his hair.

Naruto pokes his head into the cabinet. “Mom, I brought a friend from school—where’s all the beef ramen?!”

“Sakura, come touch Sasuke’s hair.”

“I’m not touching Sasuke’s hair, Ino.”

“No, really, it’s soft. The kind of soft I could play in all day if Sasuke’d let me. And you’d let me, wouldn’t you, Sasuke?” Ino says. “If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?”

There’s a choked noise from inside the cabinet. “I never said—”

“Hear that, Sakura? We can keep Sasuke.”

“ _Ino_!”

With a sigh painstakingly drawn out, Ino reluctantly lets go of Sasuke’s hair. “If only you’d given me a few more years. But then Naruto had to—”

“You shouldn’t be so bold, Ino,” Sakura says, tries to whisper even though Sasuke’s more than close enough to hear. She reaches over an empty stool to tap Ino on the arm. “What if you really do scare him away?”

“Hey—if you can’t confess to the guy you like, someone else will.”

“Why do you have to act like such a pig?” From Ino, Sakura looks to Sasuke then quickly looks away. She shakes her head and covers her flushed face with both hands. “Please, _please_ don’t listen to her.”

Sasuke doesn’t. He glances at the door, wonders if it’s too late to go back to their apartment, but then Naruto turns back around to look at him with one of those easygoing kinds of smiles and inadvertently forces Sasuke to remember why he let Naruto drag him all the way to Mobara at all.

“See? Told you they’d like you.”

From further inside the house comes a woman’s voice with a shrillness to rival Naruto’s own. “Welcome home, Naruto!” 

Sasuke cringes.

“We’re out of beef ramen—sorry, honey!”

“What happened to all the beef ramen?” Eyes wide, Naruto closes the cabinet door. “Why’s all the beef ramen gone?”

“Ino ate it.”

Ino shuffles in the stool beside Sakura. “Not being able to keep your mouth shut isn’t very becoming, Forehead.”

“Ino, you...you ate all the beef ramen?”

“What?” Ino crosses her arms, turning up her nose at Naruto’s disbelief. “It’s not like you’re ever here to eat it anyway.”

At that, Naruto’s face softens, the corner of his mouth turned down. “Ino...”

Uncrossing her arms, Ino waves away his concern. “Whatever.”

Naruto snorts and reaches a hand to ruffle her hair. He grins. “You’re such a brat, you know.”

“S-stop that.” Ino pushes away Naruto’s hand. “Go buy some later if it’s that big of a deal. Just make sure you buy enough for me, too.”

“Sure, kid.” He brightens when a woman with long red hair enters the kitchen. “Hey, mom,” he says softly, walking towards her and leaning down to kiss her forehead.

Fond, maybe even somewhat wistful, she says, “And to think I used to be able to do that to you.”

“Not for a while now, though, right,” Naruto says, smiling back at her. “Oh—hey, I want you to meet a friend of mine from school.” He turns back to stand beside Sasuke.

“Mom, meet Uchiha Sasuke,” he says, placing an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders and gently squeezing. “Sasuke, this is my mom.”

Sasuke quickly removes Naruto’s arm. Back straight, he places his hands at his sides, bowing at the waist towards Naruto’s mom. “Thank you for having us on such short notice. Please forgive us for the unexpected intrusion.”

“Oh, wow,” she says, a hand covering her mouth, “I wasn’t expecting one of Naruto’s friends to be so polite.”

Sasuke blinks, looks up from the hair fallen over his face. “Is that not...”

“You weren’t that nice to me when we first met,” Naruto grumbles, then gives a strangled cry of pain no one else seems to notice when Sasuke kicks him in the shin.

“Oh no,” Ino says, “it’s just kind of surprising Naruto would even know someone like you, much less ever bring you home. Since none of us really speaks like that around here. Even Sakura. Don’t let that sweet face fool you. You should hear her when she—”

“ _Ino_.”

“Uzumaki Kushina.” With her hands clasped in front of her, Naruto’s mom returns Sasuke’s bow. “Welcome to our home. It’s a pleasure to have you, Uchiha Sasuke.”

Suddenly, the kitchen becomes quiet, and Sasuke straightens to look for the source of unease.

Ino and Sakura are frozen in their seats, both sharing looks of scandalised horror.

The cup of ramen Naruto picked up from the counter nearly drops from his hand, but the act is too sacrilegious for him to actually let it fall. “Mom, you just...” 

Kushina only tilts her head with a glee poorly disguised. “Is it so upsetting a display to see your mom behave in such a fashion?”

There’s a chorus of yes from Naruto, Ino, and Sakura, but it’s not until later Sasuke will come to understand through many, many occasions just how much someone like Naruto takes after his mother.

“It’s really not a problem, Sasuke,” Kushina says with a kind smile. “Naruto does this to us all the time. It’s almost expected, really. Don’t feel as if you have to appear so polite for our sakes, though, okay.”

“And you felt the sudden need to?” Naruto says, then to Sasuke with a hand over the side of his mouth, “I guarantee you she doesn’t regularly do this kind of thing.”

“Hardly ever,” Ino says.

Sakura agrees with a firm nod.

“There’s a reason I tell your dad you three take after him more than me. Speaking of which,” Kushina says, placing a finger on her cheek as she turns to Naruto, “it was your dad’s turn to resupply the cabinet. I admit I feel Ino tries too hard to take your place some days—”

“ _Mom_.”

“—but we weren’t really expecting you, Naruto. Sorry about the beef, but there’s still chicken and miso and pork and—”

“But eating a bowl of beef ramen is a coming-home tradition.”

“You only started doing it last year,” Sakura says.

“Still,” Naruto says, “I—hey, Sasuke. You still have my wallet?”

“Yeah.” Sasuke frowns but reaches in the back pocket of his jeans for Naruto’s wallet. “What for?”

“Thanks.” Naruto takes the wallet from Sasuke. “I’ll be back.”

“Wait.” When Naruto turns away, Sasuke grabs his hand. “What’re you doing?”

“Going to get some beef ramen.” Naruto blinks. “What else?”

“What else?”

“Relax,” Naruto says, leaning closer to whisper in Sasuke’s ear. “I told you my family’s nice. You’ll be fi—”

“The hell you’re leaving me here alone for some beef ramen,” Sasuke hisses.

“But it’s not just any kind of beef ramen.” Naruto winces, tries and fails to wrench himself away from Sasuke squeezing the life out of his hand. “They only sell this brand in Mobara, and I’ve been craving it since you agreed to come here with me.”

Sasuke still doesn’t let go of Naruto’s hand. 

“It’s okay, Sasuke,” he says, so seriously, so earnestly, and Sasuke’s just as compelled to knock the reassuring look off Naruto’s face because of it. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

He tightens his grip on Naruto’s hand instead.

It has to fall off eventually.

“Really,” Naruto says, “it’ll just be a quick run across town.”

“A quick run across—”

Then Naruto leans over to press a grin against the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, and the fingers threatening to cut off the circulation to Naruto’s hand unwillingly let go.

“Ino and Sakura,” he calls out from the foyer, stuffing his feet into his shoes, “take care of Sasuke until I get back, all right.”

“Naru—”

But Naruto’s already out the door.

Jumping down from the stool, Ino reaches to grab Sasuke’s left arm with both hands while Sakura does the same with his right.

“Come on, Sasuke,” Ino says, “you can watch Nodame Cantabile with us. It’s really good.”

“We’ll take care of you until Naruto gets back,” Sakura says.

“You can even sit next to me, okay.”

A series of tugs on both arms causes Sasuke to turn around, where he’s met with audience increased by three unfamiliar faces.

Leaning against the counter is a man that could almost be mistaken for Naruto, with the same kind of easygoing smile and amused glint in his eyes.

By process of elimination, the woman and man standing beside Kushina must be Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Sasuke tries to smile, tries not to relay his discomfort at the fact he’d been too engrossed in his conversation with Naruto to really notice anyone else, but there’s a sinking feeling the attempt probably doesn’t make him look anything other than constipated.

“So,” Tsunade says, smirks while Jiraiya grins, and Sasuke stares straight ahead to keep his eyes above Tsunade’s chest, “how long have you been seeing the brat?”


	4. Just a Notion of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You can be so stupid sometimes."_

It still has that new kind of old apartment smell, because it’s in one of those older buildings new to them that makes living so close to the city actually seem affordable even though it’s really not.

Or maybe it’s from the pork ramen he spilled on the floor Naruto can still kind of smell two days later.

Sasuke almost kicked him out of the apartment they’d just moved in for that one, although it’s not Naruto’s fault if he found the sight of Sasuke bending over to pick up that box with all his paint supplies particularly distracting.

It was careless of Sasuke, really, like too many of the things Sasuke does just happen to be, but Naruto just resigned himself to cleaning up the mess then settled back on the floor with his legs folded beneath him to peer into the jumbo-sized instant cup ramen in hand his second attempt to eat the breakfast he didn’t mean to skip.

Yet even doing that was wrong according to Sasuke, who claimed returning the truck before noon to cut down on the rental fee was more important than Naruto’s feeble stomach pains.

He’d already been up since six in the morning, so of course Naruto responded with a refusal to budge until he’d finished his food. In between obnoxiously loud slurps that earned him more than a few glares easily enough endured, he wondered what made him agree to move in with this guy.

Sure, they’d met on questionable terms, but somehow Sasuke became his best friend over the last two years, and sometimes Naruto still had to ask himself why.

But when Sasuke plopped himself next to Naruto, holding the chopsticks he pulled out of the small box labelled the word kitchen nearly illegible, when he reached with his chopsticks to steal the food in the large cup held over Naruto’s lap—Naruto watched Sasuke tilt his head back, swallowed as the noodles wrapped around the chopsticks disappeared into Sasuke’s mouth, tried so very hard to ignore the sudden urge to share despite his stomach’s apparent unwillingness to comply.

It was another one of those distracting things Sasuke had started doing a lot more of lately, but then again, Naruto couldn’t bring himself to say he really minded.

It took nearly two hours to haul their combined lives from two dorms squeezed into thirty plus boxes two flights up a ridiculously narrow stairwell and into their brand new tiny old little apartment.

_Most of this damn junk is yours_ , Sasuke had so helpfully pointed out, and for once Naruto didn’t have anything to say back because he couldn’t deny something that was actually true.

More importantly, though, the truck was returned early with an hour to spare, cutting the rental fee in half, so with the sleeves of his t-shirt rolled up and cuffed at his shoulders, Naruto opened the box that read Naruto’s photos written in Sasuke’s really nice handwriting.

Shikamaru said he’d drop by to say hi the day before, since he’d already planned a visit to Narita to see his old mentor Asuma from high school. That and he’d admitted he was curious to see the place because the summer break was too short for anything more interesting to happen.

He showed up around two, with the offer to help well after most of the heavy lifting was done. He didn’t end up staying long, but that was fine considering his idea of helping was lounging on the couch and telling Naruto and Sasuke how many more boxes they still had left to unpack.

_So this is what you call not dating_ , he’d said to Naruto right before leaving. Lucky for him, Sasuke was out of earshot, but it didn’t stop Naruto’s harsh whisper of _shut the hell up_ at Shikamaru’s annoying little smirk as he was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved out the door by a harried Naruto without so much as a goodbye.

Shikamaru was just as bad, if not worse than Kiba, who wouldn’t lay off the marriage jokes and making fun of Naruto for spending too much time with Sasuke despite how much they fought and nagged each other, but no matter how many times his former roommate and honorary roommate from across the hall tried to convince him otherwise, he and Sasuke weren’t dating.

They just aren’t.

Maybe. Probably not. Although somewhere there’s a point to be made in the fact that being best friends who get along better when they actually don’t made Sasuke very eligible roommate material, completely ignoring the fact that Sasuke had asked him first before Naruto even had a chance to think about asking any other potential candidates that were already taken.

They’re just really, really close friends who agreed to live together, because being twenty and that much closer to graduating from Tama is apparently synonymous with being politely dissuaded from signing up for student housing next semester in order to make room for incoming first years.

Living in Narita, it’s a longer commute to campus, maybe a bit more pricey, but they both have part-time jobs that cover a little more than their total expenses. Not to mention there’s a Sukiya only a few blocks down that serves the best beef on rice Naruto’s ever had, even better since they’re open twenty-four-seven in case he and Sasuke ever run out of food while pulling an all-nighter. Or even on nights like this, lazing with Sasuke on the really comfortable squishy couch that came with the place, still surrounded by too many boxes opened but not emptied and their feet propped on the placeholder of their future coffee table now just a not so wide trunk filled with all the stuff Naruto’s not ready to get rid of.

Maybe nights like these are the same kinds of nights he used to spend in Sasuke’s dorm room since Suigetsu never seemed to spend enough time there to actually be called Sasuke’s roommate. And maybe those same nights are the reason Naruto still hesitates to forget all the times he nudged awake Sasuke dozing off on his shoulder because Sasuke studies too hard trying to be an overachiever whose main goal in life is obviously to make Naruto look bad.

And maybe, just maybe, when he thinks of the first time he noticed the dark ink dotting Sasuke’s hands and arms, then sometimes a few flecks of colour over his face, he also remembers his first instinct was to reach for his Nikon he wished he didn’t leave in his room.

So he improvised instead. He cocked his head a little, extending his arms in front of him and squinting with his left eye closed, tried to capture Sasuke in a portrait framed by his forefingers and his thumbs.

Of course when Naruto did get the chance to use his Nikon, Sasuke had threatened to break his baby, his first real camera he bought it took an entire three months during his last year in high school to save up for.

It shouldn’t have been surprising as it was, though. Being kind of messy, despite the first impression Sasuke had given, that was to be expected for someone like him. But while Sasuke studied traditional styles of painting alongside the calligraphy his mom inspired him to take up, Naruto still wanted to be a world famous photographer even greater than his dad, so it only made sense he’d try to sneak in pictures of a candid Sasuke during those rare instances when Sasuke wasn’t paying enough attention to mind.

Yet the closer they grew, the more Naruto found himself yearning for those almost perfect kinds of moments, the more he wanted to see without having to look from behind the lens to capture those too brief glimpses of a Sasuke maybe it was okay to be a little selfish about.

Because to see Sasuke like that, like this, in the foreground of bare walls a blank canvas in this tiny little apartment that’s theirs, he wants to fill it all with memories of this Sasuke so open around him—with the light from the TV screen flickering over Sasuke’s face, sharpening the contrast between his hair and skin when Sasuke gives him this funny look, head tilted a little to the side with some of his bangs falling over his eyes, cheek pressed against his hand propped up by his elbow on the armrest of the couch.

And then a part of Naruto starts to wonder if Sasuke ever looks at him the way he can’t help but look at Sasuke. 

“What’s wrong with you now?”

Placing a hand on his thigh, Naruto gives Sasuke a grin formed by his mouth stretched far too wide. “What time did you say you have to be at Mosu tomorrow?”

Sasuke pushes his hair away from his eyes, letting his head loll over the back of the couch. He sighs. “Too early.”

“No wonder why all those girls started going there lately,” Naruto teases, grin faltering just a little. “The rice burgers you make look so pretty.” He laughs when Sasuke lifts his head to send him a dry look.

“Of course that’s why that place is so busy—my rice burgers.” Sasuke snorts. 

“Yeah,” Naruto says, soft and nearly drowned out by the sound of another one of those Fit’s gum CMs with Nozomi and Takeru dancing with that guy in the moon costume. “...your rice burgers.”

With the heel of his sock-clad foot, Sasuke pokes Naruto’s ankle, then shoves hard enough against Naruto’s legs he tries to push off the pseudo coffee table while Naruto flails in his attempt to stay on the couch. 

“The hell was that for, bastard? I didn’t even—”

“You can be so stupid sometimes.”

“Oh yeah? Well, you—you’re...”

Sasuke smirks a little, but in this kind of moment between them, with the way Sasuke’s looking at him, Naruto wants to think it looks a lot closer to a smile.

He deflates with a sigh then throws his feet back on the trunk not yet their coffee table, doesn’t exactly not sulk when he mumbles about Sasuke still being a bastard because it’s a sorry comeback if he’s ever heard one.

“What’re we supposed to be watching anyway?”

“Iljimae.” 

Facing the TV he almost forgot was on, Naruto’s met with the image of some guy with long hair taking off a weird looking mask to kiss some girl wearing a blindfold.

Slowly, he turns back to face Sasuke. “Another one of these sword dramas? Really?”

“If you can still watch Doraemon, I can watch this.”

“Hey—hey, that’s different,” Naruto says. “Everybody grew up on Doraemon. Including _you_.” He points a finger at Sasuke’s chest. “And at least then I can understand what they’re saying.”

Sasuke shrugs but shuffles a little closer when Naruto lowers his arm, letting his shoulder brush against Naruto’s.

Naruto snorts. “You’re really bad with these Korean dramas, you know. Making me read subtitles like this. I don’t know if I should blame you or Suigetsu.”

“You don’t have to watch.”

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

Covering his mouth, Sasuke yawns, eyes still fixed on the screen when the long-haired guy begins to draw his sword.

It’s contagious by default, so Naruto doesn’t bother to cover his mouth as he stretches his arms above his head, watches Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

Once, Jiraiya tried to teach him the old yawn-and-reach technique. In fact, his uncle started trying to teach him a lot of things after Naruto discovered Jiraiya was good for more than his collection of glamour magazines Naruto used to borrow without asking as a kid, but using yawning as an excuse to put an arm around someone’s shoulder, it’s cheesy.

It’s so ridiculously and incredibly cheesy that it can only work in movies and dramas and his uncle’s perverted memoirs that should never have been shared out loud. Naruto wouldn’t even think about trying the yawn-and-reach with someone like Sasuke. Considering it never worked the few times he did try, he already knows he lacks the kind of subtlety it takes to pull off, and he doesn’t need to make himself feel as stupid as Sasuke seems to think he is.

One arm does fall a little closer to Sasuke, though, and it’s not until he hears Sasuke’s voice does Naruto freeze when he realises what he almost did.

“Try it and see what happens.”

Clearing his throat, Naruto lowers his arm over the back of the couch instead, tries to be casual, because Sasuke’s always been a little prickly with personal space. Except when he’s not. And even then it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference. “What—I can’t stretch now?” 

Sasuke sighs, impatient and annoyed, mutters an almost breathless sounding, “Brainless wonder” before he grabs the back of Naruto’s neck and kisses him—shit, it’s Sasuke _kissing_ him—with his lips smooth and fingers rough clutching Naruto’s hair pressing into the skin below his nape while Naruto leans into the kiss with a hand reaching to touch Sasuke’s face.

And then he closes his eyes, starts to think of all those almost touches and almost kisses he’d tell himself he’d imagined, those almost smiles he could have sworn were just a trick of the light—too many moments of not quite never happened accumulating to all the reasons they weren’t dating, proved that they aren’t dating, yet Naruto can’t help it if he feel a little dazed after Sasuke eventually does pull away.

He licks his lips pressed together, ignores the smug look on Sasuke’s face that’s a little too smug, and they both turn back to watch the TV Naruto almost forgot about again. Because about that whole not dating thing.

Maybe they are.


	5. If We Are Wise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You still have the remarkable tendency to look like a pufferfish when you do that."_

After two years of delving a life back and forth between America and Europe, to be home in Japan is a poignant reassurance, the type of which Itachi isn’t certain he can name but only just lets himself inhibit.

He arrived in Narita yesterday night. Leather suitcase abandoned at the foot of the bed, the lingering fatigue from jet lag led him to fall asleep after only removing his jacket and loosening his tie. This morning he awoke still wearing his Bruno Magli loafers, the top two buttons of his wrinkled collared shirt undone, and the pants of a Dolce and Gabbana suit still immaculately creased, yet despite the much needed respite offered by sleep, he felt more restive than refreshed in the hotel room that brought him that much closer to home.

Following a warm shower, he slipped into more informal attire consisting of fitted slacks, a light shirt, and comfortable shoes. The effort to appear casual, however, resulted in an overall less than casual appearance, too much so for what he intended, but it was a consequence of a habit too far ingrained.

It’s for the reason his business itinerary doesn’t begin until tomorrow that Itachi left New York two days before initially scheduled. Any leisure time will be severely limited throughout his week here, and it’s by windfall alone Narita also happens to be where Sasuke lives.

He hasn’t seen his brother since Sasuke began attending Tama University. They kept in touch, through a repeated stream of phone conversations Itachi would usually end first with an abrupt promise to call again later, but the strain from those two years brings a reluctant awareness they’d already begun to drift away long before he made the decision to leave Japan.

Under the pretence of routine, he spoke to Sasuke earlier, when he finished the breakfast brought to his room and sent his suit to be dry-cleaned. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the call. Ten in the morning here equated to nine at night over there, but Itachi didn’t bother to correct Sasuke’s assumption that he was still in New York.

It takes forty-five minutes from the hotel near the airport to reach Sasuke’s apartment on the edge of the city. In hindsight, riding the train would have circumvented the traffic still high on a Sunday, although time during the nearly hour long drive becomes increasingly fleeting when he parks the rental car in the only space available across from the drab three-story apartment complex.

He unlocks the car but doesn’t move from his seat. Instead, he stares at the chained watch around his wrist draped over the steering wheel he doesn’t allow himself to lean against. It’s a limited edition Seiko from the Ananta series and one out of only 150 made that year. He received it from his father before leaving Japan, a gift to commemorate the stock market launch of the international marketing firm it took him five years to build from the ground up—the same five of the last fifteen years it took to secede from the influence of familial expectations he’d willingly accepted if only to ensure the obligation wouldn’t fall to Sasuke.

He glances at the complex across the street, then again at his watch. At a quarter till twelve, with a sigh, he opens the door and leaves the car.

Hushed steps lead him to the balcony of the second floor. A modest apprehension kindles the impulse to furl long sleeves with unbuttoned cuffs folded above his elbows. Beside a welcome mat painfully orange, he stands to the left of the door, outside the purview of the peephole.

In front of him, mounted on the wall is a simple acrylic frame transparent and slightly crooked. He reads the names Uchiha and Uzumaki written with both Japanese characters and Roman letters on the small printout centred between the two plates, but it takes another moment or two for him to ring the doorbell.

A loud buzz resounds in the otherwise quiet surrounding the complex. The air he breathes in is damp, reflects the humidity of the summer season nearing its end, yet his mouth feels inexplicably dry when he hears the familiar tenor of Sasuke’s voice approaching the door.

“Because you know I’m still trying to work on this painting, that’s why, so just do it, Naruto. I haven’t even started yet, and I’m not— _shut up about that_ ,” he hisses, and Itachi listens with a keen ear, able to discern embarrassment more so than genuine irritation from the subtle rise in Sasuke’s tone.

There’s a click when the knob turns, followed by a lull in Sasuke’s conversation that resumes as the door begins to open. “You drank all the milk,” he says, “so don’t expect me to—no, you’re the moron who—”

Small phone pressed against his ear, Sasuke only stares, agape with his mouth slightly parted, and Itachi can’t help the traces of an amused smile that steals upon his face.

His brother hasn’t changed much. Rumpled in a notably worn blue shirt marred by various specks of colour and loose black sweatpants rolled over his calves, it’s that too casual disregard of his appearance Sasuke still retains.

His cheeks seem a little more prominent, though, his hair a little longer held back with a tie leaving a few strands falling along the sides of his face. Perhaps he’s a little taller even, almost negating the slightly noticeable height difference between them that still allows Sasuke to look up to him, but Itachi lets himself take a particular comfort in the realisation that two years hasn’t made such a difference after all.

A voice through the phone’s speaker, the sound of his name low yet firm, makes Sasuke blink. “I’ll...I’ll call you back,” he says, soft, nearly a whisper. Without looking away, he lowers his arm, ending the call with his thumb pushing a button on the side of the phone. “...I can’t believe you’re here. You’re actually here.”

“As opposed to being...”

“Not here,” Sasuke says, pulling on the handle of the broad paintbrush tucked behind his right ear. “You’re supposed to be in New York. You didn’t say anything about being in Narita when you called me. I thought I wouldn’t—” He pauses, lips pursed. “When’d you get here?”

“My flight landed last night.” With a glance behind him, Itachi gestures to the black car parked across the street. “I drove here.”

“You should have said something then. You didn’t even give me the chance to meet you at the airport. Why didn’t you tell me? I could have picked you up. I could have—”

“Sasuke...”

“Tch.” A slight pull at the corner of Sasuke’s mouth doesn’t quite set into a frown. “Don’t say my name like that. I haven’t seen you in two years, but you just decide to show up here unannounced, and I...”

“Does that mean I’m not allowed to come in?”

For a moment, Itachi wonders if Sasuke’s going to reach out for him, recalls a time not too long ago when Sasuke’s arms would readily wrap around his waist, but when Sasuke raises his hand, he reaches behind him instead, rubs the back of his neck as he turns away from the threshold.

The smile Itachi struggles to maintain becomes a little more strained, suddenly heavy and weary as he removes his shoes by the door. However, as Sasuke turns to face him again, the kind of smile he’s never allowed his brother to see recedes behind a calm expression.

“So...” Laying an arm over his chest, Sasuke grips the sleeve of his shirt with his fingers.

The silence between them isn’t wholly uncomfortable. Despite his almost rigid stance, Sasuke’s body language seems more anxious than anything else, so Itachi takes the lapse in conversation as an opportunity to survey the apartment Sasuke calls home with Naruto.

Charitably, it’s not much smaller than the suites commonly found in the Western style hotels he’s grown accustomed to, and he can easily map the arrangement from the entryway.

To his immediate left is a kitchenette. Further along his right is a short hallway diverging into a single bedroom and one bathroom. The focal point of the apartment, though, is the sitting room. It takes up a considerable breadth, with an amalgamation of accumulated photos and ink wash paintings spanned every corner of four broad walls.

Sequestered in the middle, Sasuke takes a seat on a foldable metal chair, next to paint supplies piled on top of a trunk and surrounded by a drop cloth spread the expanse of open space beneath him. Behind him is a narrow stand. The upper shelf sits a small flat screen TV, alongside a few stacked magazines and DVDs on the lower shelf. On the other side of the room, a plain white sofa sits against the wall, adjacent to three mounds of clothes folded neatly on top of a coffee table.

As a whole, it’s a quaint little place. The atmosphere is pleasant, the apartment itself cosy if not outright cramped, but it’s a significantly far cry from Itachi’s condominium in New York comparatively barren despite the two years spent living there.

“It’s nice.”

Sasuke shrugs, nonchalant, setting his phone on top of the trunk. “It’s comfortable,” he says. “Not bad considering how close we are to the city.” 

Body contorted on the chair, his left arm is laid against the ankle of his right leg held to his chest. The inside of his right elbow is bent around his right knee, hand placed over his left shoulder. His left leg lies folded on the seat of the chair, knee pointed outward to the side, with the bottom of his left foot pressed against the inside of the right.

Curling into himself is a nervous habit Sasuke apparently hasn’t outgrown, but it’s also one Itachi hasn’t forgotten.

“Reminds me of your old room,” he says, because it truly does. In high school, when Sasuke began to paint in earnest, he’d sometimes seclude himself in his room, rearrange his furniture against the walls to clear a large area in the centre his self-designated provisional studio.

“It works,” Sasuke says. “And Naruto doesn’t mind.”

Itachi nods with an absent hum. He takes a seat on the sofa and lifts a sock-clad foot to rest over his thigh as his gaze travels along the walls. Alongside the paintings, scattered on the white surface are photographs an assortment of sizes.

It isn’t completely unexpected. Sasuke’s mentioned Naruto studying photography in passing. While only a handful of the photos on display are professional, there’s still an admirable quality about them, a rare kind of sincerity Naruto’s able to seize.

Some of the photos depict scenery of the city. Others held to the wall by orange and yellow thumbtacks are more candid shots the traditional size of postcards, mostly of Sasuke and Naruto, coupled with a few featuring people Itachi doesn’t recognise. One in particular, however, does stand out.

It’s a photo of Sasuke and Naruto standing near a lamppost, on the pier of a canal the partition from well-lit buildings vanishing in the backdrop.

Naruto has one arm around Sasuke’s shoulders, his other arm extended outside the frame holding the camera. Their cheeks close together, Sasuke’s unable to curb a burgeoning smile that somehow manages to make the wide grin plastered on Naruto’s face seem even wider.

Their relationship is somewhat of a surprise, Itachi can admit. Apart from family members and the small circle of people close to him, his brother’s normally a taciturn person, sometimes to the effect of appearing aloof due to a fierce independent streak that drove him halfway across Honshu after being accepted to Tama.

Over the course of two years, Itachi’s periodic conversations with Sasuke were gradually interfered by Naruto. For the man whose head broke the practice sword Itachi had given Sasuke at fourteen, the infamous Naruto who wouldn’t leave Sasuke alone after their first encounter, Sasuke’s initial aggravation became a fond annoyance that eventually led to Sasuke sharing an apartment with Naruto.

Yet they’re complements. With Naruto, Sasuke is happy, and Itachi can’t fault Naruto for latching on to memories of his brother he’s not a part of.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Sasuke says. “Or something to eat? We still have some leftovers from last night if you’re—”

“I’m fine,” Itachi says, glancing at the wall once more. His gaze falls on a sparse landscape, splashed with delicate brushstrokes coloured hues of blue and red. “Interesting choice of decor. I don’t remember seeing any of these paintings before.”

“They aren’t my best. My advisor’s trying to force me out of my comfort zone, so it’s more like they’re experimental pieces.”

Sasuke looks down at the trunk beside him. An unwound roll of the unsized rice paper he prefers to use sits near the edge. Beside it are a small, transparent bottle of water and three brushes placed on top of a long sheet of felt cloth that’s been folded twice parallel the length of the trunk. In the remaining patch of area at the centre uncovered, inside an ink grinding stone is an ink stick still sealed in plastic and a tiny watercolour palette also unopened.

He scoffs. “It was Naruto’s idea anyway. After I told him what Kakashi wanted me to do, he thought putting them on the wall would help, even though I—”

“No, they’re...” Itachi says, almost taken back by such a substantially perceptive gesture from Naruto, “they’re stunning, really. Much more so in person than in the photos of the other ones you sent.”

It’s nothing less than what he’s come to expect from Sasuke. Even at an early age, his brother showed an immense propensity for painting, beginning the day their mother caught a six year old Sasuke rummaging through the lacquered cherry wood box carrying the ornamental calligraphy set passed down from her side of the family. Instead of scolding Sasuke, however, she encouraged him to pursue the interest. 

Finally letting his hand fall away from his shoulder, Sasuke tilts his head with a slight motion towards Itachi. His body begins to unfold from the chair, and he places his left foot on the floor. “You really think so?”

“I think knowing Naruto has been good for you.”

Sasuke closes his eyes, releasing a soft peal of laughter. “He can be such a stupid idiot at times, but he’s...”

“Naruto?”

“...yeah.” Lifting his head, Sasuke peers at Itachi, looks to him with such trusting eyes. It’s an image of his little brother still hard to let go, but when Sasuke reaches a hand to push away the hair fallen over his face, he grants him the tentative kind of smile Itachi realises is no longer reserved for him alone. “He is.”

Smile slowly forming into a smirk, Sasuke removes himself from the chair and walks the short distance to sit on the sofa. “So when’s the last time you heard from Mei?” He leans towards Itachi with crossed legs and his arms folded over his lap.

It’s an attempt to divert the conversation away from his relationship with Naruto that proves successful, if only because Mei is a topic uncharacteristically sensitive for Itachi, one of the few things able to put more than the slightest dent in his composure.

For five years he’s known Mei, the woman he met through a fledgling business partnership turned near disaster that developed into a string of sporadic long-distance liaisons.

Predominantly, he considers her his competition. She’s his rival with the alluring green eyes, modest a-line skirts, and a playful smile as sharp as the heels of her Sergio Rossi stilettos clacking upon the floor. While the company she works for is smaller than his own, the presence of its advertising sector she heads nearly corners the Southeast Asian market he still hasn’t been able to breach.

Outside their inevitable crossing of paths, however, she’s become what his family considers to be his romantic interest, Mei with the same alluring gaze and the even more enticing long red hair normally concealed in a loose bun that he’s seen splayed the length of her bare back on more than a few occasions.

“You know everyone’s wondering who’s going to propose first,” Sasuke says, smirk still present and the palm of his hand held against his cheek, elbow resting on top of his knee.

“So I continue to be told.” A supposedly foreseeable engagement with Mei has been the general consensus within his family for some time now. None of them, Sasuke and their parents included, are above relaying less than subtle allusions to his refusal to settle down at twenty-five. In his position, he’d prefer not to overlap the line drawing the distinction in his life between matters business and personal, although he supposes Mei accepting his invitation to his aunt’s wedding next year doesn’t necessarily help dissuade the rumours; the possibility of Mei catching the bouquet has already become the subject of too much idle gossip.

“I wonder, though,” he says, with an obvious lilt to his voice, “if everyone would make the same assumption if they knew about your relationship with Naruto.”

The smirk is quick to disappear, replaced with a flustered disbelief tinged upon his cheeks when Sasuke sits upright, hand holding his face fallen back to his lap. “It’s only been three months.”

“You’ve already known him for two years. It’s only natural you should invite him to the wedding.”

A little less flustered, Sasuke purses his lips. “I’m not inviting that idiot to a wedding. He doesn’t even like ironing his clothes. The closest thing he has to a suit is his dad’s old jacket that’s probably older than he is, and I’d have to strangle him with a tie before he’d agree to wear one.”

“I’ll even treat him to fugu in Shimonoseki.”

“Itachi...”

At Sasuke’s drawl still carrying remnants of a nasally whine, Itachi lets himself indulge in the slightest hint of a teasing smile. 

“Please don’t make that face.”

“Which face are you referring to?”

“You know which face I’m talking about.”

Itachi pokes Sasuke’s forehead with his forefinger.

Head drawn back, Sasuke blinks in surprise, scrunching his nose. It’s the same reaction he’s always had to the gesture, still has even after so long, and he follows with the expected half-hearted protest to push away Itachi’s hand. “You’d think I’d be old enough for you not to do that anymore.”

“Some things can’t be helped.”

“Only because you won’t help them.”

Itachi concedes with a soft hum. Granted, he can’t contend otherwise, but there remain some things about his brother he’s not yet ready to see change, and it’s easier to assert that notion when the Sasuke in front of him continues to evoke memories of a much younger Sasuke impatient and constantly demanding his sole attention, glaring with the entirety of his face in the form of narrowed eyes and a ubiquitous pout accompanied by slightly inflated cheeks.

“You still have the remarkable tendency to look like a pufferfish when you do that.”

Cheeks deflating, Sasuke looks away, draping an arm over the back of the sofa. “...don’t call me a pufferfish.”

Itachi snorts. “Does that mean you’re going to invite Naruto to the wedding?”

“I’m not going.”

“I thought you already set aside vacation time to go.” Itachi frowns when Sasuke shrugs. “Did you change your mind because Sai’s going to be there?”

With a groan, Sasuke turns to face Itachi with his head resting against his arm on the couch. “No, but he’s more than enough reason not to go.”

Although he knows there’s no real meaning behind the words, Itachi doesn’t smile. “Why aren’t you going, Sasuke?”

After a moment of staring far too prolonged, Sasuke sighs. “We won’t be able to afford a trip Yamaguchi right now. Not on our budget.”

“There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.”

“I don’t want anyone to pay for me.”

“It’s not for you. It’s for the family,” Itachi says, moving the foot placed over his thigh to the floor. “I know I haven’t been here, Sasuke. I know I haven’t always been—” He pauses, frowns again simply to curtail the weary sigh that almost does escape. “Yet as long as I’ve been away from Japan, you haven’t been home in a while, either.”

Sasuke closes his eyes, sinking further into the cushions of the sofa. 

“You can’t avoid it forever.”

“...I know.”

“You still have a few months to consider it, if you decide to change your mind—given that you seem to have prospective buyers in Yamaguchi who’ve garnered enough interest in your old portfolio to express an interest to meet you.”

Sasuke opens his eyes and raises his head. “You heard about that?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Mom told you?”

“Dad did, actually.”

“...he did?”

“He told me last month, and now I can’t help but wonder why you thought you couldn’t tell me.”

“Oh...” Sasuke’s teeth press on top of the left side of his lower lip. He doesn’t quite fidget but refrains from meeting Itachi’s gaze.

“Or why you don’t seem excited enough to even reconsider going to Yamaguchi.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Sasuke tugs on the handle of the brush still tucked behind his ear. He snorts. “I’m no Hasegawa.”

_I’m not you_ , Sasuke doesn’t say, but he doesn’t have to say anything for Itachi to know it’s there. The words lie unspoken between them, a consequence of years the compilation of inadvertent comparisons simply because Sasuke was born after him. Already frayed, he was left with a carefully crafted confidence, a facade dangerously hinged upon the occasional assurance from Itachi.

He knows he shouldn’t have such a strong influence on his brother at this point in Sasuke’s life, but regardless of the reason, he still does, so Itachi reaches for Sasuke with a gentle hand, with a familiar ease not yet fully displaced by nostalgia as he pulls Sasuke towards him.

“No, you’re not Hasegawa,” he whispers, fingers maintaining their grasp loose around strands of Sasuke’s hair,” but you don’t have to be. You’re already well on the way of establishing a name for yourself. I can’t tell you what to do anymore, Sasuke. You’re twenty. You’re old enough to make your own decisions. Yet despite that, as much as I’m your older brother, you’re still my little brother, so whatever you decide to do in life, I will always be proud of you, Sasuke.”

Leaning against Itachi, forehead passed against his, Sasuke swallows, bears again the tentative kind of smile that almost tempts Itachi into never letting him go.

“ _Always_.”

“...Itachi, I—”

They both turn at the noise from the entryway, the loud jiggling of the knob and the abrupt voice filtering through the door beginning to open.

“You’re such a stingy asshole, you know that.”

The voice scoffs, announcing the arrival of a blond man—Naruto—making his entrance backwards into the apartment. 

“I can’t believe you hung up on me like that. Not even bothering to give me a reason, and then you had the nerve to turn off your phone, too.” Unsteady on one foot, he nudges closed the door, fumbles to lock it while holding a white paper bag in both arms.

“You know how long it took me to get out of that place you made me go to?” he says, releasing a series of frustrated grunts during an apparent struggle to remove his shoes at the entryway. He doesn’t wait for an answer. “I’m talking a very long time, Sasuke—a _really_ , very long time.”

Sasuke snorts, shaking his head with a murmured _idiot_ , and Itachi blinks at the nearly palpable affection conveyed through such a simple word.

“But get this,” Naruto says, yet to make headway with either shoe. “The guy at the only other open register in the store almost threatened to kick me out, all because some blind old lady with two carts full of stuff thought I cut in front of her—which I didn’t.

“Really, I mean, she was the one who cut in front of me in the express lane she shouldn’t have been in first place because I was the one who only had ten things in a basket, but then the guy started—hey, when’d you get the time to get new shoes, bastard? I thought you said you were working on the painting Kakashi’s making you do. These shoes aren’t even your size. They’re too big for you. Not to mention you don’t even like these kinds of...these kinds of...”

After removing his shoes, Naruto steps out the entryway, finally taking notice of Itachi. “Did I, uh...um, did you—am I missing something here?”

Sasuke groans, dropping his head against Itachi’s shoulder.

Clearly perturbed, Naruto looks between them with wide eyes, arms holding the paper bag becoming slack. “Okay, I definitely think I am missing something here.”

A grin slowly begins to form on Itachi’s face, an almost gentle smile that gives way to the slightest hint of a smirk. He ignores the nasally drawl the sound of his name muffled against his shoulder he can feel Sasuke’s cheeks inflate against. “Hello, Naruto.” 

“...uh, hi?”


	6. Stuck on You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I need you to be the muse. Be my inspiration."_

Laundry. All Sasuke wanted to do was drop off his last load of laundry that he’d allowed to pile up over the last couple of weeks because of a project. He almost made it, too, quietly carried himself up six flights of stairs from the basement floor with no unexpected interruption from a certain idiot who’d taken it upon himself to develop a habit of ambushing Sasuke on his self-appointed laundry day early Saturday mornings.

He only had himself to blame for being that predictable, though, so really, only a few metres away from his room, just on the other side of the hallway, it was only a matter of time until he was barrelled over by a flying body, his only warning the most annoying and shrill voice known to man calling out his name before an armful of Naruto nearly flung him to the floor.

“Morning.” Planted against Sasuke’s side, Naruto grins, smile stretched wide across his face and far too alert for this time of day.

“Shut up before you wake up the entire floor,” Sasuke hisses. “Where did you even come from?”

“Stopped here before my morning run. Want to come with me?”

“No.” Sasuke takes in Naruto’s clothes, the light grey shirt and the bright orange track pants with three white stripes trailing down the outer sides. It doesn’t explain why Naruto’s still hanging off him, but there are a lot of things about Naruto that Sasuke doesn’t think can be explained. “Now go away.”

“Sure, later, but right now, I have a favour to ask.”

“If you need something, do the sensible thing and call me. It’s not even eight yet.”

“Everybody already knows you’re the only person crazy enough to wake up this early on a Saturday to do laundry. Not to mention, you don’t like to answer your phone when you see my number.”

Which Sasuke has his reasons for. Very good reasons. Namely the fact that most of them have something to do with Naruto. “What do you want?” he says, retracting his arm from around Naruto’s waist that only reached out for Naruto to prevent them both from tumbling to the floor.

“I need you to be my subject for a sketchbook assignment in Professor Genma’s class.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so.”

“If you do it, I’ll buy you that curry rice you like so much.”

“No amount of curry rice in the world could—”

“Come on, Sasuke, don’t be so mean.”

With a hand over Naruto’s chest, Sasuke shoves him to the floor, only to find himself flailing in the attempt to keep his balance when arms clamp around his leg. “Naru—”

“I already asked, didn’t I? You’re supposed to say yes when I ask.”

Sasuke sneers, trying to push away with his hand Naruto’s head seemingly attached to his leg. There are times when he really does wonder if he hit Naruto too hard that day. “I’m not agreeing to do anything for a brash guy who thinks it’s okay to throw himself at people because he has no self-respect.”

“In this kind of situation, I’d only do it for you.”

“Let go. Of my leg.”

“ _Never_.” Visibly determined, uncomfortably so, Naruto tightens his grip. “Not until you say you’ll help me.”

“ _Idiot_ , get off me. “

“But Sasuke—”

“ _Now_.” Moving down the hall towards his apartment, Sasuke begins to drag Naruto across the floor, struggling against the deadweight of the leech he still can’t shake off. 

“You have to do it.”

“No, I don’t.”

“But I _need_ you,” Naruto whines—whines because that’s what he does. Whines and goes on about senseless things that nobody’s able to make him shut up about, the level of sheer persistence when he puts his mind to something is more than enough to wear anybody down, even if he has to work a little harder to include Sasuke in that category. “I’m down here begging for help because I need you, but you won’t help me because you’re always so cold to me.”

“What is wrong with you?” Gritting his teeth, Sasuke stumbles as he leans down to take off his slipper he uses to hit to the top of Naruto’s head with. Repeatedly. He should have worn his shoes. “Grown men don’t act like this.”

“I just want to take a picture. I always take pictures of my friends, except you haven’t let me—”

“Then ask Shika—” Sasuke again tries to shake Naruto off his leg to no avail. “Ask Shikamaru or Kiba, or pick up some stranger for all I care—just make sure it’s somebody else not me.”

“It’ll be fun. Really, really—”

“If you don’t let go of my leg, I’m going to—”

Releasing Sasuke’s leg, Naruto quickly jumps to his feet, but his hands make a grab for Sasuke’s shoulders before Sasuke has the chance to get away. He punctures his words with a light shake and imploring eyes that have the adverse effect of holding Sasuke’s attention. “I need you to be the muse. Be my inspiration.”

The pleading turned half-baked motivational speech, of course, does little to motivate Sasuke, apart from inspiring the twitch over his left eye. “The hell I’m being your damn anything.”

“But you’re already my friend, aren’t you?”

“Not this again,” Sasuke mumbles, dropping his slipper to the floor and sliding his foot back into it. He’s not going to be sent into some guilt trip over a stupid picture, but neither will he deny the not quite grudging friendship between them, because, despite their differences and seemingly incompatible natures at first glance, it actually does mean something to him. “Will you leave me alone if I say yes?”

“Just one picture. That’s all I need to go from.”

“It’s one of Genma’s assignments. All you have to do is sketch a pumpkin or some goddamn fruit in a bowl and be done with it—why do you need me?”

“Because I want to draw you,” Naruto says, simple, not even the slightest bit unsure, and he smiles like the answer’s something obvious Sasuke should have already known.

Scowling beneath his breath, Sasuke looks at the wall to his left. He’s never had problems turning people down before, especially people like Naruto, who’s recently learned to exploit an aptitude for grating on his nerves. Except with Naruto, the way he looks at him sometimes, with the same kind of sincerity in his eyes behind the offhand things he says too often, as if he really does mean it, there’s something about Naruto that lowers his defences just a little bit and becomes the course of too many moments like this that are almost enough to make Sasuke believe him.

“You can’t even draw.”

“No,” Naruto says, because it’s no secret he doesn’t draw well or do anything remotely artistic through a medium that isn’t film. Even that chicken scratch he calls handwriting is questionable from time to time, yet despite not disagreeing about his cringe-worthy inability to draw anything that isn’t crude, Naruto just continues to look at Sasuke, giving his shoulders a firm squeeze. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t inspire me to try.”

And it’s when Naruto says an offhand thing like that, the kind of embarrassing thing that manages to catch him off guard more often than he’d like to admit, sometimes, Sasuke doesn’t know what to think anymore.

His gaze lowers to the faded, demented smiley face printed on Naruto’s shirt, nestled between the English words _Smile_ and _It Confuses People_ , and Sasuke sucks his teeth.

There’s no denying he and Naruto are close, maybe even close enough for Sasuke to let him get away with saying such an inappropriate thing aloud. It’s probably his fault for still expecting any kind of tact from a painfully straightforward person like Naruto anyway.

“...fine.”

Immediately, Naruto beams, and Sasuke swears he hears something that sounds suspiciously like direct-hit, but he’s more annoyed by Naruto’s shameless enthusiasm.

“Really? You mean it? You’ll let me take your picture so I can draw you?”

“Shut up about it before I change my mind.”

“Okay, yeah, yeah—will do.” Naruto continues to grin, giving Sasuke’s shoulders another squeeze before Sasuke remembers to push his hands away. “When’s the next time you’re free? I have a week until I need to turn it in, so let me know so I can check out some lighting equipment, because I—”

“Who said anything about lighting equipment?”

“Sasuke, really.” Naruto tilts his head down, stares at him with this infuriatingly knowing look that’s not much more than an overstated show of mock disappointment. “You know me better than that by now, don’t you?”

Unfortunately, Sasuke can’t say he doesn’t, but that still doesn’t give Naruto a plausible excuse to keep dragging him into these kinds of situations. “You said one picture. I didn’t agree to—”

“Yeah,” Naruto says, slow with a low chuckle, “about that, it might take more than one picture to get _that_ picture. The one I’ll end up using to turn in for a grade—most likely, if I want to have a good pool to pick from, so—” He brings his hands together with a loud clap then rubs them against each other.

“I was thinking about it in my Art Science class yesterday, then I came up with the idea of drawing you doing one of your paintings, and that’s the mood I’m going for,” he says, standing beside Sasuke and draping an arm across his shoulders. With his other arm, he makes a wide, grandiose gesture of his hand, directing Sasuke’s gaze towards the ceiling. “The messy bastard.”

He turns to Sasuke with an ear-splitting grin too wide to be one of his usual filppant smiles. “What do you think?”

Really, Sasuke can’t believe he’s actually being serious about it. “I think you should remember I know where you keep your camera.”

“...is that a threat?” Squinting, Naruto begins to loom closer as Sasuke begins to draw away.

It makes him uncomfortable, the clichéd kind of uncomfortable that leaves him feeling highly exposed in the scrutinising closeness between them. Over the year and a half since they first met, Naruto’s become one of the few people who know him, maybe a little too well, considering how Sasuke’s yet to push him away this time.

It’s another one of those offhand things Naruto just does, though, the kind of thing Sasuke always questions because he doesn’t quite give into the desire that makes him want to believe in the possibility it could mean something other than Naruto simply being Naruto, but every time he tries to push himself away, with just one look, he can’t help but find himself being pulled right back in.

“Naruto...”

“Yeah?”

“You’re too close,” Sasuke breathes, swallows when he feels Naruto’s breath too warm over the corner of his mouth.

“Am I?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke says, clipped. He pulls Naruto’s arm from around him and steps away. “You are.”

Blinking, Naruto frowns. Or at least his expression relays something between a frown and the kind of confusion from thinking too hard. “Sasuke, I—”

“Oh.” Suigetsu peek his head from behind the door to their shared apartment. “It’s just that guy who likes to follow you, Sasuke. And here I thought you were cursing out your hamper again.”

“How’d you know it was me?” Surprisingly nonchalant, Naruto leans against Sasuke with his elbow propped on Sasuke’s shoulder. He waves with a playful smile as Suigetsu opens the door. “You weren’t eavesdropping, were you?”

“With how loud you are, Blondie, that kind of thing can’t be helped. As interesting as you two are, though, you’re not that interesting.” Grinning, Suigetsu sips through a thin, short straw the Binggrae banana milk he sometimes receives in the care packages his mom sends him from Korea. “Definitely not interesting enough to excuse waking me up at this ungodly hour.”

Sasuke scoffs, for the umpteenth time removing Naruto’s arm from around his shoulder. “You were already on the phone with Karin before I even left.”

Suigetsu’s grin doesn’t falter when Sasuke sidesteps him to enter the apartment. “So I was, but hey—don’t let me stop you from whatever you two were doing, Sasuke. I only got out of my futon because I had to take a piss.”

“That’s the kind of thing that shouldn’t be shared so casually,” Naruto mutters, following Sasuke inside.

Suigetsu nods with a low hum, taking another sip of his drink. He closes the door behind him. “Thanks, by the way, for picking up my laundry with yours. I won’t say anything about my mp3 player for a while.”

Sasuke grunts as he makes his way towards his side of the room.

“What happened to your mp3 player?” Naruto says, kicking off his running shoes before setting foot onto the tatami mat floor.

“This guy,” Suigetsu says, pointing his thumb at Sasuke, “he stole it.”

Leaning down to fold his futon, Sasuke snorts. “It’s not like you use it.”

“That shouldn’t matter, should it?” Suigetsu sighs, conveying the haplessness of his internal suffering through raised hands and an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. “Between you and Karin, nothing in my room is safe.”

“Don’t leave it lying around on the floor then.”

“It’s not like you actually stay here long enough to tell the difference, right?” Naruto says, shuffling next to the closet Sasuke stuffs his futon in.

“Oh sure, take his side,” Suigetsu says, mouth curled into a smile around his straw. “The guy who routinely threatens to smother me with a pillow in my sleep if I even so much as think about touching his stuff.”

Naruto raises an eyebrow. “Somehow, the fact you threaten to do that to other people besides me, Sasuke, I don’t know how I should feel about that right now.” 

Sasuke rolls his eyes, ignoring the obvious deadpan in Naruto’s voice and the even more obvious impish grin Suigetsu sends his way.

“Well, Sasuke hasn’t actually killed me yet, so considering the kind of person my roommate turned out to be, I suppose I’m grateful for that sort of thing.”

Naruto snorts while Suigetsu snickers, but neither can refrain from the fit of giggles they break into over their source of entertainment at Sasuke’s expense.

“Anyway,” Suigetsu says, when he and Naruto finally begin to calm down, “I plan on being here today, so I kind of need you to take Sasuke off my hands, okay. Go for a long walk or something—you like walking, don’t you, Sasuke?”

Sasuke lifts his shirt over his head, exchanging it for a long-sleeved one he took out of the closet. Slipping his arms through the sleeves, he pulls the collar over his head to find a somewhat disoriented Naruto staring at him. He shrugs it off and turns back to Suigetsu. “Why?”

Suigetsu crushes the emptied bottle in his hand and tosses it in the small trash bin beside Naruto, causing Naruto to startle. “Because Karin’s coming over for her birthday, remember.” He picks up a DVD still sealed in plastic lying on the small desk by his unmade futon. “And I got my mom to send me the latest Super Junior concert DVD.”

“Who?” Naruto says.

“Some Korean boy band with too many members,” Sasuke says.

“Not just any Korean boy band. It’s the Korean boy band Karin happens to be obsessed with right now.” Suigetsu wriggles his eyebrows. “Do you know how hard it is to get a hold of this kind of thing in Japan? She’s going to go crazy when I show her, so I just need you to let Naruto keep you preoccupied for a while so we can watch it together, yeah.”

“Whatever. I’m heading out to the studio anyway.” Sasuke bends down to pick up the large black art portfolio case leaned against the wall. He lays the strap over his shoulder. “With your mp3 player.”

Suigetsu says thanks in Korean, or what Sasuke thinks amount to thanks from his limited exposure to the language through Suigetsu. “Kleptomaniac or not, have I ever told you much I really liked you, Sasuke?”

Sasuke snorts. “Just don’t leave this place a mess when I get back.”

“Sure, sure.”

“And don’t forget to pick up the rest of the laundry,” Sasuke says as he and Naruto slip into their shoes. “It’s in the third dryer by—”

“By the window. Yeah, I know. It’s the only one you’ll use,” Suigetsu says, hands on their shoulders guiding Naruto and Sasuke out of the apartment. “Don’t forget not to come back until after six. Oh, and I’ll tell Karin you said hi, so bye.”

The door closes behind their backs, and Naruto laughs a little, the light sound gradually fading down the hallway.

“I can’t believe he just kicked us out like that.”

“He’s been begging for the place to himself for months, ever since he found out Karin told me her birthday.”

“He really likes her, huh,” Naruto says, walking alongside Sasuke towards the stairway. “So why doesn’t he just ask her out then?”

“It’s Suigetsu.” Sasuke shrugs. “Who knows?”

“...I guess, but hey,” Naruto says, reaching for Sasuke’s wrist, “before you go to the studio, come by my place first?”

“Aren’t you supposed to go running?”

“I can always go running later, but if you’re going to paint now, if you can wait a little while for me, I can go back to change and get my camera. The studio’s already pretty well lit, so if you really don’t mind me taking a picture of you...”

The thumb absently rubbing circles along the inside of his wrist makes him pause, makes him sigh at the way Naruto won’t stop looking at him, and once again Sasuke finds himself being pulled right back in. “Just one picture.”

“Just one.”

“Then I don’t—I wouldn’t mind waiting for you.”

“Yeah?”

“...yeah.”


	7. You and I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“You really are annoying when you do that." ___

“How long are you staying anyway?” Sasuke says, letting his arm draped over the back of the sofa fall again to his lap. He rubs the heel of his palm against his knee, gaze raised to Itachi from the smudge of dark blue paint dried on the material of his pants. “Coming here, does that mean you’re going to be in Japan for good?”

“I’ll be in Narita until the end of the week at least, pending the outcome of a merger. I leave for Singapore Saturday.”

Hand held still over his knee, Sasuke almost frowns. “And you’ll be staying there how long?”

“If all goes well, no more than a month.”

Sasuke lifts his hand, making an impatient gesture for Itachi to continue. “And after that...”

“I can’t say.”

“No, I know you can say. You just don’t want to for some reason.”

“It depends, Sasuke.”

“On what? If you’re going to be in Japan, just say yes or no.”

“Yamaguchi will probably be my mainstay. Although this is only tentatively speaking, of course.”

“You really are annoying when you do that. Trying to pull one over me like I’m still a kid.” Sasuke snorts, tapping his fingers against the side of his leg. “I really wish you called me beforehand about coming here, though. I know this place isn’t like home, but you didn’t have to go through the trouble of paying for a hotel when you could have stayed here instead.”

“I do like your apartment,” Itachi says. “As quaint as it is, though, I wouldn’t want to intrude. I have a conference call first thing in the morning, and I’ll be busy for the rest of the week.”

“It would have been nice if you’d at least given me the chance to offer.” Sasuke uncrosses his legs and stretches himself across the sofa. Leaning against Itachi, he props his feet on the armrest.

“Even so, I noticed you only have one room. Does that entail you and Naruto sharing a bed?”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Sasuke says, firm with his arms folded over his chest, although a blush renders his apparent resolve ineffective, “but no. We don’t. I would have given you my bed.”

“And where would you sleep?” With a slight smile, Itachi shifts on the sofa to make room for his brother lying comfortably against him, resting his head on top of Sasuke’s.

“On the other bed crammed inside our room.”

“Naruto’s bed, I’m assuming, but then where would—”

“In here on the floor,” Sasuke says without hesitation, disregarding completely the option of Naruto even sleeping on the sofa.

Unwittingly, Itachi’s shoulders begin to shake, and he covers his mouth to curb the faint sounds of a laughter that eventually does escape him. “Not the sofa?”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow, tilting back his head to peer at Itachi with a smirk too wide not to be a smile. “He has a futon.”


	8. Smile Tomorrow Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Although it's nice to finally have a smart, older sibling-like figure I can look up to, sometimes, I really question how smart you can be having agreed to date someone like Naruto."_

On the screen of Naruto’s laptop, blurry footage beginning to clear shows Ino impatiently patting the empty space beside her on the bed. “Come on, Forehead, hurry up!”

“Wait for me, Ino,” Sakura calls out, voice muffled through static from the computer’s speaker. “I’m coming—I’m coming.”

Ino shuffles to the left side of the full size bed, making room for an ambling Sakura pushing back her headband keeping away from her face short bangs as she appears in the doorway.

“I finally got Sasuke on Skype,” Ino whispers to Sakura off-screen, then waves at the camera on her laptop, while Sakura hops onto the bed to lie down beside her. “Hey, Sasuke.”

On her stomach with her feet raised, Sakura smiles alongside Ino. “Hi, Sasuke.”

Sasuke makes a low noise in greeting. He crosses his legs in his chair, pressing two keys with his thumb and forefinger to enlarge the window displaying Sakura and Ino on the screen.

“What about me?” Leaning over in front of his laptop sat on the small desk, Naruto drapes an arm over the back of the blue foldable chair Sasuke’s sitting in. He pushes up the glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose with a hand bringing the frames closer to his face. “No _hi_ , _Naruto_ or _hey, how’re you doing_ , for your big brother?”

“Move, Naruto,” Ino hisses. “Your head takes up too much of the screen. I can’t see Sasuke with you in the way.”

“What the—”

Sasuke lets out a snort, and Sakura covers her mouth to unsuccessfully hide a giggle.

“Traitor,” Naruto mutters, nestling his forehead against Sasuke’s shoulder. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“You’ll live.” With an absent hum, Sasuke places a hand on Naruto’s head, gently running his fingers through unruly blond hair. “Unfortunately.”

An arm around Sasuke’s waist, Naruto chuckles when Sasuke’s hand in his hair moves to his face and half-heartedly tries to push him away.

“Get off me, Naruto.”

“But you’re comfortable.”

“I don’t care. I’m not your pillow.”

“Fine, fine,” Naruto says, though he’s smiling when he grabs the small and orange office chair he rolls next to Sasuke. The chair turned around, he takes a seat. He folds his arms over the cushioned back of the chair, gaze fixed on the slightly pixelated video of his sisters. “So what’s this all about anyway?”

“We wanted to actually see you instead of just calling,” Sakura says simply, tilting her head to the side in a cute gesture Naruto knows better than to believe is anything remotely close to innocent. “You’ve both been so busy lately, it seems. Since your graduation is next month.”

“Which we really can’t wait for,” Ino says, clasping her hands together. “We even bought you a present, Sasuke.”

“What about me?” Naruto says, making his presence known with a hand waving at the screen. “You didn’t get me anything?”

Ino gives him a blank stare, blinks, then immediately brightens when she focuses on Sasuke again. “Like I was saying,” she says, “we even bought you a present, Sasuke.”

Sakura laughs at Naruto’s dejected expression, bumping her shoulder against Ino’s. “Of course we bought something for you, Naruto. Ino had to make sure it was really special. She almost spent two weeks trying to—”

“You’re not supposed to say anything, “Ino whispers harshly, nudging Sakura with her elbow, but Sakura takes it in stride with a smile.

“What I meant to say,” Sakura says, “was that dad took us shopping for the graduation. For new clothes, too, and we found some really pretty dresses. Only, it’s been really hard trying to decide which one I should wear. There’s not that much time left, but I still haven’t found the right shoes, either, and I don’t know if I should get my hair cut or wait until after your graduation, because I’m still thinking about whether or not I should grow it out again—it’s all so much to take in at once.”

“...uh-huh.” Naruto gives a slow nod of his head. “Somehow, I think I should feel more slighted about you placing that much concern in your appearance over me.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Ino says, a little too loudly, “Sasuke—Sasuke, guess what my new rank is in our class.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. “First?”

“Yep.” Grin wide, Ino practically preens, her legs moving back and forth her feet she lifts from the bed. “Because of my math finals, I rank the highest now. I even outscored that annoying Sakai guy, but it’s about time someone kicked him off his little pedestal anyway.”

“It can’t be healthy to be so competitive,” Sakura admonishes. “Especially with the way you get with even a hobby as calm as Ikebana club’s supposed to be.”

“Says the teacher’s favourite in the girls’ judo club,” Ino says, turning to face Sakura with a knowing smirk. “You’re probably better than half the guys in the boys’ club, too.”

Blushing, Sakura fans her face. “I just happen to really like it. That’s all it is.”

“Yeah, I remember your first tournament.” Naruto rolls forward a little in his chair then slides back. Hanging one arm over the back of the chair, he sniffs and wipes at his eye that isn’t anything but dry. “And to think I taught you everything you know.”

Sakura snorts. “The trophies I have say otherwise.”

“Your general lack of coordination in this area is very severe,” Ino says. “You trip over air.”

Sasuke gives a slight, almost barely perceptible nod in agreement.

Bunching his shoulders, Naruto turns over his raised hands in defeat. “Since you all think it’s fun to gang up on me when it’s three against one—sure, why not? It’s not like these kinds of things can hurt me.”

“You know, Sasuke,” Ino says, an obvious gleam in her eyes, “although it’s nice to finally have a smart, older sibling-like figure I can look up to, sometimes, I really question how smart you can be having agreed to date someone like Naruto.”

“Hey—”

“You need to get your frames adjusted,” Sasuke says, head slightly tipped back to peer at Naruto. With one finger, he pushes back up the glasses again sliding down Naruto’s nose.

“So I do.” Cross-eyed, Naruto blinks. “Thanks.” 

“Despite this obvious shortcoming, though,” Sakura says, smile small and gaze soft, “we really do like you.”

“Oh—o _h_ , speaking of like.” Clutching the small and white accent pillow in her arms, Ino turns wide eyes to Sakura. “Tell them what happened after school yesterday, Sakura. Tell them before I have to.”

She turns back to Naruto and Sasuke. “You can’t just reveal this kind of news over the phone, you know. That’s why we—”

“You, really,” Sakura throws in.

“—didn’t think it’d be enough to just call.”

“...as long as it’s not bad.” Trying to keep his imagination in check, resolved not to let himself think of the worst case scenario, Naruto gives Ino a wary look. “I mean, it’s not bad, is it?”

“Something of this magnitude,” Ino says, brushing away his concern with a dismissive wave of her hand, “definitely not bad.”

Lips pressed together, Sakura tries not to smile, crossing her arms in front of her chest at Naruto’s expectant stare. “Oh, well...so, I guess, um, there’s this boy I’ve kind of liked since the beginning of the year,” she says, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger and ignoring Naruto’s squeak of _boy_ , _what boy_ that makes Sasuke flinch and glare at him with a _why do you always have to be_ _so loud_. “And he—I suppose he confessed to me.”

“Then she said yes,” Ino adds before Naruto can open his mouth, a little too excited about the situation. “And now they’re going out.”

Naruto manages to get in another horrified squeak.

No longer holding back a smile, Sakura picks at the thick purple comforter covering Ino’s bed, pink colouring her cheeks. “...I have a boyfriend.”

“B-b-boyfriend?” Naruto falters, nearly crashing to the floor trying to avoid the edge of the desk. “You have a _boyfriend_?”

“He has really nice eyes,” Ino says. “But he’s nothing like you, Sasuke.”

“Of course,” Sakura says, and Ino repeats what seems to be the consensus between them, “of course.”

Sasuke makes a noncommittal noise.

Bottom lip trembling, Naruto just stares.

“He’s somewhat of a dark, mysterious type, I should think,” Ino says. “At first I thought he’d be a playboy type, because that’s the kind of impression he tends to give around a crowd, but mostly he’s just really shy.”

Sakura nods. “With that, being a little shy, I can’t argue, but he still has a cute personality.”

“I’m not hearing this.” Nearly throwing himself across Sasuke’s lap, Naruto grabs him by both shoulders, using Sasuke as leverage to rotate his chair. “Tell me you’re not hearing this. Because I’m not hearing this.”

Unfazed, Sasuke forcefully pries away Naruto’s fingers digging through his shirt. “I’m hearing it.”

“Yeah, he can be cute, I’ll give you that,” Ino says, a thoughtful look on her face. “Even if he does act like an old man more than half the time. For a guy who’s fifteen-going-on-forty, though, he’s not a bad catch.”

“ _Fifteen_ ,” Naruto all but shrieks, tugging on the ends of his hair. “He’s _fifteen_.”

“So?” Sakura blinks twice. “What’s your point?”

“You can’t have a boyfriend. That’s my point.”

Ino frowns. “Why not?”

“You’re too young to have a boyfriend.” Naruto moves closer to Sasuke again. “Quick, they listen to you. Tell her, Sasuke—tell Sakura she’s too young to have a boyfriend.”

“You’re too young to have a boyfriend,” Sasuke says, bored, similar to that tone he sometimes uses whenever he’s purposely tuning people out.

Sakura and Ino giggle.

“Yeah, that sounded really convincing.” Naruto sucks his teeth. With Sasuke’s enthusiasm, he’d think the guy was being forced to watch paint dry. “Like anyone would buy something said with that little conviction—no, you have to _mean_ it when you say it. Like this.”

Face close to Sasuke’s, Naruto reaches for Sasuke’s cheeks. He gently squeezes, pulling up and down to puppet Sasuke’s mouth that doesn’t open. “Repeat after me,” he says, then clears his throat, firm in the attempt to impersonate his mom during one of her rare scolding moods, “Sakura and Ino, you’re not allowed to have boyfriends because you’re too young to be dating and you’re not allowed to grow up without me there.”

Sasuke just gives him this highly uninspired look.

“Like that, okay.” Naruto gives an encouraging nod, failing to hold back a snicker at the expression on Sasuke’s face. “Now you try.”

Reaching with two fingers, Sasuke takes a hold of Naruto’s nose, pinches his nostrils when Naruto squawks and flails away from him.

Ino snorts, letting go of her pillow and resting her hand against her face. “Don’t make such a big deal out of something like this so unnecessarily, Naruto. If we’re old enough to stay at home alone, we can have boyfriends.”

After Sasuke releases his nose, Naruto narrows his eyes. He points an accusing finger at his sisters. “Who said this?”

“Mom,” Ino says, then Sakura adds, “and Dad.”

“They did not.”

“Did, too,” Ino retorts. “You’re the only one freaking out about it.”

“Plus,” Sakura says, “mom even said you had your first girlfriend when you were twelve.”

“That was,” Naruto sputters. “I mean—because I—so she was a year older, yeah, but I’m a guy, so—”

“ _Naruto_...” Shoving her way in front of Ino, Sakura moves closer to take up the entire scope of the camera. She shakes her fist at the screen, movement slowed by the delayed frame rate of the video. “Are you implying I can’t have an older boyfriend at fourteen when you had an older girlfriend at twelve just because I’m a _girl_?”

Meek, Naruto actually draws back, almost cowering behind Sasuke. “...no?”

Sasuke snorts.

“Honestly, Naruto.” With an exasperated sigh, Sakura lowers her fist and scoots back on the bed, pushing from her elbows. “I’m already fourteen. Ino and I will be in high school next year. We’re not kids anymore. More importantly, though...”

She trails off, gains a faraway look with determined eyes almost too intense. Shoulders slightly shaking, she starts to cackle beneath her breath. “The best thing about it is that I managed to get a boyfriend before even Ino.”

Sulking, because everyone else seems more than content to disregard his opinion, Naruto murmurs, “Weren’t you the one earlier who claimed it wasn’t healthy to be so competitive.”

“That’s because I have more adult tastes than you.” With a flick of her wrist, Ino whips back long strands of blonde hair fallen over the side of her face. “Obviously.”

Sakura laughs. “Still got a boyfriend before you, didn’t I?”

“Bragging about something like that, don’t be so immature, Forehead.”

Naruto sinks further into his chair, turning pleading eyes to a Sasuke who doesn’t even move to comfort him.

Her grin undeterred, Sakura’s eyes widen when the silence fills with some song by Perfume, or at least Naruto thinks it sounds like that one girl group Sakura likes. She reaches into the back pocket of her pale blue shorts and takes out a small pink phone, decorated with rhinestones, stickers and a Keroppi charm hanging from the upper left corner. 

“Oh, who is it?” Ino says, smile sly and expression far too eager, “I bet it’s _him_ , isn’t it? How bold to call you so soon after he confessed—or is it an email? Either way, you have to take it. Go ahead and message him back.”

The phone rings again as Sakura places it on the bed between herself and Ino.

Quickly, Naruto sits up. “You can’t take that call.”

Lowered gaze fixed on her phone, Sakura absently corrects him. “It’s an email.”

“Call or email—doesn’t matter.” Naruto shakes his head. “Ino, even though you’re the youngest, I’m officially making you the second oldest, so you can’t let Sakura take that call, all right.”

Completely ignoring him, Ino turns her gaze from the phone to Sakura, then leans closer to share a conversation of hushed whispers too low to be heard through Naruto’s computer.

The conversation is short-lived, though, and they break away when Naruto hears two familiar voices faint in the background.

“Mom and dad must be home,” Sakura says with a sweet smile. Following a quick wave of her hand, she hops off the bed, eyes glued to her phone and fingers flying across the touchscreen. “I should probably go reheat dinner for them. See you later, Naruto and Sasuke.”

“Sakura, you can’t just—”

Placing a hand over Naruto’s mouth, Sasuke nods. “Bye, you two.”

“Bye, Sasuke,” Ino says, fingers reaching for the lid of the laptop. “Please continue to take care of our brother for us.”

Naruto takes Sasuke’s hand away from his mouth. “Ino, wait, don’t—”

The video feed disconnects a few seconds after Ino flips down the screen.

Fingers over the keyboard, Sasuke closes out the programme and reveals the desktop background he constantly keeps changing without permission.

Sighing, Naruto rests his head on Sasuke’s shoulder, sagging against him. “...now I think I understand how Itachi feels.” 

Sasuke grunts. “They have to grow up sooner or later.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Naruto mumbles into Sasuke’s shirt. “I can’t believe this might mean I have something in common with your brother. Me, of all people, I’m finally able to relate to someone like—” He stills. “You won’t tell him about this, will you?”

“About what—your sudden epiphany that children eventually grow older?”

“No, really. What if—”

“You’re being melodramatic.”

“But you’re still going to take care of me, though, right?” Lifting his head, Naruto wriggles his eyebrows. “After all, Ino did ask you.”

“Who else would even bother?” Sasuke smirks, straightening the glasses again lying crooked on Naruto’s nose before pressing his lips against Naruto’s grin turned into a pout.

“ _Sasuke_...”


	9. Like Nobody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Stop being so insecure about what a guy like that said. It's annoying."_

The moment the lights flickered on, they didn’t even make it to the couch before Naruto’s back hit the drop cloth that did nothing to cushion him from the floor, and then Sasuke was all over him, mouth warm over his, fingers slipping beneath Naruto’s shirt, and Sasuke pressing down against him in that way he’s always so stingy about but rarely does if only because he knows how much Naruto really likes it.

Even being in such an uncomfortable position, it was enough to make him forget about the inevitable aches that would come back to bite him in the morning. Enough to have him on the verge of seeing stars. Well, it almost had Naruto on the verge of seeing stars. Right before he decided to open his mouth. Because having Sasuke grinding on top of his erection was the perfect time to bring up what Sasuke’s cousin said to him at the wedding.

Something about feelings and questioning his ability to fulfil Sasuke’s needs, being affected by that kind of perverted guy, it’s not his fault he can’t stop thinking about it.

But then Sasuke’s fingers stop short of actually touching him _down there_ , where he actually happens to like touching Naruto a lot, and he heaves the kind of careless sigh with an almost annoyed expression that really shouldn’t turn Naruto on so much.

“What?” 

“Feelings. I said we should talk about our feelings.”

With a snort, Sasuke leans down, slowly pulling down the zipper of Naruto’s pants. “Where the hell did this crap suddenly come from?” he breathes, kissing the side of Naruto’s mouth.

“N-nowhere...um,” Naruto falters, closing his eyes with a moan when Sasuke’s hand begins to dip lower, “nowhere special—does it really matter?”

“ _Naruto_...” The tips of Sasuke’s fingers travel alongside the top of Naruto’s inner thigh, and Sasuke hums, blows a thin stream of warm air across Naruto’s earlobe. “Where’d you get it from?”

“One of your cousins.”

Face hovering over Naruto’s, narrowing his eyes, Sasuke stills. “You better not say it was Sai.”

To his credit, Naruto doesn’t say it was Sai. He just doesn’t say it wasn’t Sai, either.

Except Sasuke seems to know that it was Sai without Naruto having to say anything.

He sits back on Naruto’s legs, one hand retreating to his side and the other curling around an unopened condom he slipped out of his pocket earlier. Wet lips slightly parted, he gives Naruto one of those extremely misleading blank looks, the kind that hasn’t really changed from the ones he gave Naruto after they first met. The only difference now is Naruto knows how to pick up on the more subtle expressions on Sasuke’s face.

In this one, the unspoken accusation of _idiot_ is a given.

Idiot and moron and loser and stupid and dumbass and so many other names Naruto’s lost count of over the years—probably even some in Korean, too—but they’re more like pet names rather than the insults they used to throw around.

At least that’s how Naruto views his own arsenal of choice words he still calls Sasuke.

“You listened to Sai even after I told you not to.”

Supported by his elbows propped on the floor, Naruto sits up. “There’s nothing wrong with talking about feelings during something like this.”

“Naruto,” Sasuke says carefully, “right now, I don’t want to hear about your feelings while I’m trying to have sex with you.”

“That means you still want to talk about them, right? I mean, not now, because we’re doing this, but we can talk about it later.”

Sasuke’s left eye begins to twitch. “You’re only saying that because Sai said something to you about it.”

“So?”

“You keep bringing up the same guy you called an asshole because he wouldn’t admit he took the piece of cake you claimed he stole from you—”

“—it was the last piece,” Naruto says, trying to defend himself, because it was the last piece of a really good cake, would have been his third slice overall not counting the one Sasuke ended up giving him.

“My cousin Sai _—Sai_ —you keep bringing him up while I’m trying to have sex with you,” Sasuke hisses, both hands on Naruto’s shoulders pushing him back down. “You really think that makes me want to have anything to do with you anymore?”

Which is a good point, Naruto has to admit. Bringing up Sai like that definitely wasn’t the smartest move on his part, but sometimes it takes him a little while to think through these kinds of things.

“But I really want to share my _feelings_.”

Maybe more than a little while.

“Look, either _that_ ,” Sasuke says, punctuating with a especially harsh tug on Naruto’s pants and yanking them down to reveal black briefs covering an impressive bulge, “is going inside me right now, or you’re _never_ getting the chance to come anywhere near me with it again.”

The proverbial record scratch goes off in Naruto’s head, and all thoughts about feelings and what Sai insinuated about his relationship with Sasuke are immediately thrown out the window.

To declare that kind of decision so suddenly, Sasuke’s being a little too hasty about something that doesn’t involve just him.

“W-w-wait a minute—let’s think about this, okay.”

“There’s nothing to think about. Either you want to do it or you don’t.”

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair and you know it. I was just trying to—” But then Sasuke starts to shift back, and it’s more important for Naruto to keep Sasuke near him than to finish that train of thought. Muscles in his stomach clenching, he sits up and reaches with hands that settle on Sasuke’s sides.

“Trying to what?” Sasuke stops moving and places the condom on the floor. He almost frowns, but it’s only one corner of his mouth that turns down a little. “If you don’t want to—”

“So what you’re really saying is, you just attacked me before I even got a chance to take my shoes off, threw me down on the floor, and now you’re going to leave me like this?” Naruto’s gaze points to his erection that doesn’t exactly look like it’s going to die down anytime soon with the way Sasuke’s already moving against him. “For the hell of it.”

“Maybe.” Leaning closer to kiss him, lips almost touching, Sasuke gives Naruto the tiniest little grin instead. “Figure it out yourself.”

And that’s really not fair, especially considering Sasuke was the one on the plane whispering things like _I’m already clean, so we’re having sex when we get home_ , which Naruto agreed to with a not so steady _okay_ and a slow nod that later led to Sasuke tackling him as soon as they made it to the entryway.

Not that Naruto could say he minded, since it really didn’t feel right to do that kind of thing in Yamaguchi during the wedding. Even if they were staying in a really nice Western style hotel, Sasuke had been too strung-up about seeing his family again for reasons Naruto already knew but Sasuke didn’t want to talk about, anyway.

“What do you mean figure it out by my—”

“I warned you Sai’s really good at getting under your skin. He thinks it’s fun.” Letting his arms hang at his sides, Sasuke rests his head over Naruto’s shoulder, face turned away from Naruto. “Stop being so insecure about what a guy like that said. It’s annoying.”

“You say it like it’s my fault.”

“It is.”

“Yeah, well...it’s not.” Naruto pokes Sasuke in the side. “It’s his. He started it.”

Sasuke laughs really soft and low, relaxes a little more, and then he breathes. “But I need for you not to be that way around me, Naruto,” he whispers, fingers reaching for Naruto’s arm around him. “...I don’t want you to do that, because you’re Naruto.”

“Sasuke...”

“And that’s all I’ll ever need for you to be.”

Swallowing, Naruto steadies himself beneath Sasuke’s weight lying almost completely against him. He’s not dense. No matter how many times Sasuke might like to say it, that doesn’t mean it’s true. 

By his own admission, maybe he’s a little slow on the uptake, but he’s serious when he needs to be. Better yet, he knows how to read between the lines for the things Sasuke doesn’t say. He’s good at that.

Really good.

Sasuke lifts his head, pushes away with a hand on Naruto’s shoulder that still keeps them close together. “Otherwise,” he says, wearing another one of those bland expressions, then slowly, that teasing kind of stuck-up smirk he likes to throw around too much starts to come back. “I won’t be doing this with you anymore.”

It’s because he knows Sasuke’s not being serious that Naruto grins back, laughs and doesn’t let himself stop grinning even if he’s not ready to let go of Sasuke yet. He lowers his back to the floor again, pulls Sasuke down with him, and they just lie there for a few seconds.

Sasuke snorts, then finally cracks a smile, but Naruto can’t stop looking up at him with this ridiculously dopey grin he doesn’t know what else to do with.

His hand plays with the stands of hair at Naruto’s nape, and gently, Sasuke tugs. “That good enough for you?”

“...yeah,” Naruto tries to say, tries not to feel like he’s being swallowed whole by Sasuke’s mouth crushing against his. Because the kiss is rough, wholly demanding and unyielding, but it’s still reassuring in a way that’s all Sasuke, and Naruto finds himself closing his eyes, arm around Sasuke’s waist pulling Sasuke flush against him. “I can get behind that.”


	10. Mad About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I don't know why it's always so hard for you to admit how much you really like my sideburns. I never said it was a bad thing, you know."_

“Naruto.”

“Hm?”

“On your chin, is that—is that stubble?”

“You finally noticed, huh—yeah, I’m letting it grow out. What do you think?”

“...”

“Don’t laugh at me, you jerk.”

“You’re trying to grow facial hair.”

“And? What’s wrong with that? Lots of guys have facial hair. Matter of fact, Shikamaru’s had facial hair since forever. You never said anything about him. Why am I suddenly so different?”

“First of all, he’s Shikamaru. Facial hair suits a guy like him. Second of all, you’re you.”

“So?”

“You’re _you_.”

“What about my sideburns then?”

“Your sideburns don’t count.”

“Why not?”

“Because for some reason you actually think you can grow facial hair when you’ve never been able to do so before.”

“I don’t know why it’s always so hard for you to admit how much you really like my sideburns. I never said it was a bad thing, you know.”

“Don’t smile so freely about something like that. I’ve already told you I couldn’t care less about your sideburns.”

“Yeah, with the way you like to touch them, right—you’re just jealous because you can’t show off your manliness with a beard. Unlike me.”

“I don’t want facial hair.”

“Che. I bet you’ll change your mind when you see how amazing my beard will be.”

“That peach fuzz will never grow in. Just like you’ll never be taller than me.”

“Two centimetres, Sasuke— _two centimetres_.”

“Two centimetres more than you’ll ever have.”

“...whatever. I still say you’re just jealous about not being able to grow hair on your face. Because that’s always been an important part of being a man. Obviously.”

“Sure, Naruto. Never mind the fact your dad isn’t able to grow facial hair, either.”

“You’re surprisingly hairy down below, though.”

“...and you’d pay attention to that sort of thing, wouldn’t you.”

“I wouldn’t let you expect anything less from me.”


	11. Middle of Somewhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Admit it. You were worried about me."_

Sasuke doesn’t think of himself as a superstitious person. He doesn’t put credence into things like fate or happenstance, because he’d rather believe he still has the ability to create his own choices, whether he ends up making them or not, so it’s ridiculous to even mull over the idea that the faint smell of grease he can’t seem to get rid of has anything to do with why Naruto hasn’t shown up yet.

Spending time in a restaurant kitchen, the lingering smell of food comes with the territory. Or maybe he’s just imagining it. Berating himself over something so mundane, so trivial that Naruto wouldn’t even notice how much soap he’d used to scrub away the pervading reminder of work that clung to his skin through his uniform, it’s useless to fall into that sort of thinking.

So Sasuke stops.

He unclenches his hands instead, makes fists in the pockets of his light jacket it’s still probably too warm for. Sitting on this bench for so long, though, his arms somehow feel cold in the humidity making his skin tingling almost feel numb. His knuckles brush against the thin lining, and his fingers being to curl around the smooth material. He takes out his hands, rubs them against the outside of his jacket, then stuffs them back into his pockets since he can’t decide where else to put them.

He’s not nervous. Considering it was his idea to visit Shibaura, there’s nothing to be nervous about. Moreover, meeting by the train station like this, despite being in a context outside of friendship, it’s not so different from seeing each other after class or stopping by the Green Hall to grab breakfast following Naruto’s morning runs he sometimes agreed to go on—the kinds of things they happened to do on a regular basis.

Aside from the more serious undertones the consequence of a kiss that had been a deliberate catalyst on his part, it should be a nonissue. It is a nonissue. Because he’s neither nervous nor worried nor in any state of mind that would make him question the rationale behind what the hell possessed him to think asking Naruto out on a date was ever a good idea.

It could simply be his own misgivings, that nagging uncertainty he’s been trying to compensate with bravado all this time. Despite the credence he doesn’t lend to hopeless notions like happenstance, he’s allowed himself to place a frightening amount of confidence in Naruto. And it scares him to realise the depth of that influence. It scares him to know he’s become comfortable around Naruto with an intensity he can’t fully grasp, but no matter how much he wants to deny it, of all the times to second-guess himself, of all the people to instil within him even the slightest doubt, nearly half an hour since arriving at the platform, like a fool, he’s still waiting for Naruto to come.

With a sigh, he lets his shoulders sag. He widens the stance of his legs, knees pointing outward and feet flat on the ground, sinking against the wooden bench making his back stiff. The phone inside the pocket of his pants feels heavy pressing into his leg, continues to remain silent even though Sasuke took it out of manner mode after getting off the train.

He hasn’t seen Naruto since this morning, hasn’t heard from him aside from the message he received while Naruto was leaving his last class and heading to the used camera shop where he works.

That was six hours ago. He’s already tried calling Naruto once, twice—maybe three or four times in a couple of successions. Still, he tells himself he’ll give it a few more minutes. It hasn’t been too long. A little more than thirty minutes at most, closer to a quarter till when he almost risks checking his phone again. But there’s no reason for Naruto to be late. He should have been here before him.

Although Sasuke’s shift at Mosu ended before Super Camera closed, the camera shop’s closer to Minato, which, for the most senseless reason, motivated Naruto’s insistence on meeting him in Shibaura straight from work.

_Pretending to meet each other for the first time like that, it’ll be more romantic,_ he’d said with a shameless smile, showing off the date on his phone calendar marked by excessively cutesy facemarks, _like the kind of thing that happens in all those popular TV dramas_.

He could be such an annoying guy, being so direct about that kind of thing, but he’d been looking forward to it all week, teasing Sasuke about their date with little reminders more embarrassing than his suggestion to meet outside Shibaura Station separately.

Yet for all his professed anticipation, there’s still no sign of Naruto.

And Sasuke waits.

He takes his hands out of his pockets, sniffs, wrinkling his nose when the guy on the other side of the bench they’re sharing together alone reaches for another cigarette. It’s the second one since he’d taken a seat next to Sasuke, the last one in his pack, and for the second time, he makes a silent offer to Sasuke first.

Unlit cigarette in hand, his arm extends beneath the splay of light from the street lamp overhead occupying the space between them. Despite his uncommonly strong features, his eyes noticeably green are surprisingly soft, maybe even a little too sympathetic for a stranger, but again Sasuke declines with a slight shake of his head.

The guy shrugs, withdrawing his arm. With his right thumb, he flips open the lid of a plain metal lighter, rotates the flint wheel to create the steady flame he brings close to the cigarette held in his mouth. He takes a couple of puffs, turning red the end of the cigarette that glows and begins to smoulder.

The lighter’s snapped shut with an audible clink. Holding it between two fingers, with a practiced ease, he rolls it back and forth. He stops, letting the lighter rest on top of his knuckles, then catches it in the palm of his hand quickly turned over.

Fingers curling around the lighter, he throws his right arm over the back of the bench, crossing one leg over the other. He inhales, long and deep, slowly taking away from his mouth the cigarette he holds close to his cheek. Tilting his head back, he closes his eyes, blows a thin wisp of smoke at the sky.

Sasuke takes a hand out of his pocket, placing it over his phone he forces himself to leave alone. Not one for small talk, he settles into another stretch of silence, tries to ignore the almost sickeningly sweet smell of the guy’s cigarette smoke.

Normally, he wouldn’t care. The prevalence of it aside, he’s pretty indifferent to that sort of thing considering he doesn’t personally know many people who do smoke.

His mom and dad did when they were younger, long before he was born, and occasionally they’ve delved back into the habit. Apart from them, there’s Shikamaru and one of Itachi’s friends who always seemed to have some form of tobacco at hand whenever Sasuke saw him. Kisame, he remembers, the guy who used to dye his hair blue that Itachi met through grad school.

Once, during one of the weekends Sasuke used to spend at his brother’s condo, Kisame left a pack of cigarettes on the counter of the kitchen bar. Despite the fact he’d been underage, Sasuke helped himself to one. It was only out of curiosity. Nothing more. Nothing less. The experience didn’t really make him care for it, though, and he ended up throwing the cigarette away after a few bouts of coughing that made his eyes water.

However, while the smell of smoke starts to become a little off-putting, he’s not irritated so much as he is anxious when he accidentally slips his phone out of his pocket.

But he doesn’t look at it. He doesn’t venture to do anything with the phone. The darkened screen turned facedown, he just holds it.

He looks up at the sound of soft laughter, fingers around the phone loosening then tightening again when he sees a small group coming down from the station’s elevated platform. It’s a couple of girls, probably in high school judging by their pleated skirts and tailored jackets. Although why they’re still wearing uniforms this late at night, it’s not his business. Neither does he care. All that matters is none of them is Naruto.

As long as he’s been waiting, there haven’t been too many people passing through. Even during the commuter rush hours of the week, traffic is moderate and seemingly nonexistent during the weekend. This area of Shibaura’s one of those quieter spots not so rare in Tokyo, across the street from its small namesake station tucked below the highway. In this kind of place, the impression it gives is more transient than anything else, which is what initially drew Sasuke to this part of Minato.

Suigetsu brought him here last year. After he found out one of his professors created a couple of the seated statutes scattered around Tokyo, he wanted to replicate one on a smaller scale as a clay sculpture for an assignment in his independent study class.

He only dragged Sasuke and Karin along because he couldn’t decide by himself which one to choose. It turned into an all day scavenger hunt that left Sasuke cranky and Karin exasperating in her many outward displays of how much more fulfilling it was to major in graphic design. Of course that led to a far too cheerful Suigetsu retaliating with threats to do things better left unsaid to Karin’s collection of boy band memorabilia courtesy of his favourite knife set she’d bought for his birthday the month before.

Although being stuck between those two was something Sasuke learned to actively avoid, the trip wasn’t a complete waste. He discovered Shibaura for the first time, and it soon became a place he’d come to visit pretty often.

On occasion, he’d end up here and find himself walking along the Shinshibaura Canal. Sometimes he’d come for inspiration, gradually adding to a sketchbook dedicated solely to the scattered gardens that made him think of Naruto more than once or twice, but mostly because it was somewhat of a retreat whenever he needed somewhere to go that wasn’t home back in Yamaguchi. Take a train, usually during the day if he was free and while the walkways along the canal were relatively bare, he’d let himself get lost in the relaxing atmosphere of Shibaura a little less fast-paced than the general ambience that made up most of Minato.

Like his former hiding place when he was six unknown to even his brother, it’s one of those finds he preferred to keep to himself. It’s a place he’s able to call his own. Untainted by childish insecurities he still doesn’t know how to leave behind, it’s the kind of escape he’s never told anyone about until his decision to tell Naruto. But when he’d asked Naruto out on a date, it only made sense he wanted to share that part of himself. So, while they were planning a set time and day between classes and conflicting work schedules, he brought up the idea of going to Shibaura.

Peering at Sasuke from over the rim of his cup ramen, Naruto slurped the noodles wrapped around the chopsticks held in his hand. “You want to go there—to Minato?” he said. “Really?”

A slight twitch to Sasuke’s lips almost became a frown. “What’s wrong with Minato?”

“Nothing.” Naruto shook his head, swallowing the food in his mouth. “I don’t mind going where you want to go. It’s just that Minato’s my dad’s name, so it’s kind of weird knowing we’re going to have our first real official date someplace like that.”

“I don’t want to go to Shibaura because your dad’s name is Minato.”

“Right, right, that’s not what I’m saying. Although it’s kind of funny, too,” Naruto said, “since sometimes I forget me and my dad share our names with cities. I don’t think we were named after them, though.”

“I doubt it.”

“Heh. I’ve never been to Tokushima myself, but maybe I’ll take you to the Great Naruto Bridge one day so we can watch the Naruto whirlpools together.”

It was a pun, a really bad pun playing on Naruto’s full name taken from his mom’s side, and Sasuke snorted at the ridiculously corny attempt at a joke.

Naruto just grinned. “We could even visit the Otsuka Museum. Seeing all those famous Western paintings, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Shifting on the bench, Sasuke allows himself to smile a little, the left corner of his mouth curling up just the slightest bit, but the reminiscence is brief, broken by the sound of the guy sitting next to him beginning to stand, and Sasuke grunts at the weight of the phone in his hand reminding him Naruto still isn’t here.

The guy takes a prolonged inhale, finishing the last of his cigarette with a final puff of smoke released into the air. He buries the butt of the cigarette in his palm and checks the watch on his right wrist before pocketing his lighter. A final glance tossed at Sasuke, the guy gives a slight nod then heads across the narrow street.

He stops by the vending machine selling cigarettes, ironically only a few metres from the pavement sign in front of the station entrance designating the platform as a non-smoking zone.

Tearing away his gaze, Sasuke risks checking his phone for what he tries to convince himself is the last time.

He turns it over in his hand. His thumb hovers above the number two button of the onscreen keypad, hesitant to press down and hold the seemingly hundredth time for Naruto’s number on speed dial. Each attempt so far sent him straight to voice mail. If Naruto hadn’t answered ten minutes ago, there’s no reason to believe he’d answer now, but Sasuke holds on to the phone a little while longer, presses the top volume button on the side when the screen fades to black.

21:37 becomes 21:38. Again, the numbers of the clock begin to disappear. The screen darkens. The fingers of his hand over his lap begin to unfurl, leave the phone lying flat in his palm, and Sasuke shoves it back into the front pocket of his pants.

Then he continues to wait.

It’s crossed his mind to leave. He’s thinking about it again now. He just doesn’t act on it. Tells himself instead like he’s told himself too many times tonight already, he’ll give it a few more minutes, like the previous few that inevitably accumulated to the hour that’s passed.

He snorts, almost laughs when he thinks of the soap he can smell beneath the lingering odour from that guy’s tobacco, yet here he is, still sitting on this bench like an idiot because some stupid part of him won’t stop believing Naruto’s going to come.

But going out on a date, it’s a reasonable enough thing to do. Or at least it seemed to be at the time.

Since the beginning, their relationship had always teetered on the side of unconventional. From the way they met to how close they grew through an arguably somewhat dysfunctional friendship that somehow managed to bring them even closer, nothing about them should have worked. Yet something did. Something does. However, somewhere along the line, simply being friends no longer applied.

There was an underlying tension neither of them had been in a particular rush to openly acknowledge. Eventually, though, Sasuke decided to make the first move and began trying to push Naruto toward the possibility of sharing the kind of relationship beyond the connotations of dating that didn’t quite cover the extent of what he had in mind.

Initially, he’d been reserved, if not even a little apprehensive, because it was a situation he admittedly didn’t have much experience in. Until he discovered how well his usual subtlety wasn’t working in his favour. For someone as consciously obtuse as Naruto could be at times, at least when he wanted to appear that way, nothing short of a figurative brick upside his head could get through to him.

But that first kiss on the couch soon provoked accepted unexpected kisses Naruto used to catch him off guard, developed into experimental touching with wandering hands disappearing beneath clothes sliding up flustered skin, became an invitation for Naruto to sneak into his bed that shouldn’t fit two adults just to monopolise the blanket he preferred to replace with himself whenever Sasuke felt generous enough not to kick him out.

Other than the novelty of a few more physical aspects, though, as backwards as their nonlinear approach to whatever it is between them came to be notwithstanding, the basic nature of their relationship hadn’t really changed. But last week, after a study session for quarter exams that would follow frequent all-nighters sharing the takeout from Sukiya they probably eat too much of, Sasuke proposed going on a date.

The way it came out, so spur of the moment, it was such an impulsive thing to suggest, the kind of expression more characteristic of Naruto that Sasuke would rather not do. Except Naruto didn’t hesitate to say yes, wearing an exceedingly boyish grin that left Sasuke torn between hitting him and kissing him to wipe off the annoyingly pleased look on his face.

Yet around someone like Naruto, someone who has the ability to affect him to such a degree, there isn’t much Sasuke can be sure about. He’s left struggling with an uncertainty that’s almost debilitating. It’s as if he’s grasping for something with Naruto that may not be there, and it’s already resulted in the sort of reckless behaviour he usually tries to avoid.

Yearning for that closeness grown between them, the lengths he’s gone working to sustain the constant in his life Naruto’s become, he’s never felt like this about anyone before.

It’s overwhelming most of the time. Too often it’s all consuming. Too many times he’s felt too much happened too soon. And sometimes, he wishes he never met Naruto. Sometimes, he wishes he could have fallen for anyone else in the world, but he already knows there’s no one else it could be, because it’s Naruto who’s managed to crawl under his skin, Naruto who understands him in a way few people do—Naruto who can make him feel so damn hopeless with that one look in his eyes just enough to convince Sasuke this thing they have isn’t some fluke or coincidence, and maybe he’s not as much of the idiot he undoubtedly is still waiting for—

“Sasuke!”

His head snaps up to the direction of that voice familiar unnecessarily loud. It comes again, Naruto calling his name, and Sasuke catches a glimpse of blond hair through the small crowd leaving the platform of the station.

A little too eager, he stands, lets one foot move ahead of the other. He doesn’t stray far from the bench, though. Nerves that won’t settle he tries to hold at bay with his arms at his sides, hiding his hands in the pockets of his jacket once more. He takes another step or two. Then one more. Makes it far enough to meet the gaze of blue eyes searching that immediately calm when Naruto finds him, eyes that become noticeably relieved as Naruto runs towards him, but Sasuke just stands there, uncurling his fingers digging into his palm and releasing the breath he didn’t realise he was holding that catches in his throat when Naruto stops in front of him.

“...hey.” Bending over, Naruto takes quick, shallow breaths, resting his hands on his knees. His overall appearance is dishevelled, with his hair messier than usual and his name tag from work pinned crookedly on his shirt partially tucked into his pants.

It’s a little unexpected, for someone in his shape, but he just lifts his head and sends Sasuke an uncharacteristically diffident smile. He draws out another breath that seems too long then suddenly stands upright with only a slight slouch of his shoulders. “You’re still here.”

Sasuke schools his face. He’s as nonchalant as he can pretend to be, doing his best to ignore the lingering irritation building beneath the uncertainty he refuses to let Naruto see. “...you’re late.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but I—”

“You’re more than an hour late.”

“I know, Sasuke. I know.” Naruto tries to smile again, tries to lift the mood despite his guilt-ridden expression that doesn’t do the least to sway Sasuke. “I’m sorry I’m late, but there was a really long delay, so I tried to get around it on the Samatsu Line, except I got off on the wrong stop at first, and then I kind of, um...”

“You what?”

“I kind of got lost?”

Taking a breath, Sasuke lowers his gaze he then slowly raises. He faces Naruto with a blank stare, the kind of intent look that’s more or less become a wordless rhetorical question he gives Naruto far too often. Although whether it’s truly reserved for Naruto or a projected response to himself for still willingly associating with Naruto, at this point, it’s a tossup. “You got lost on the Samatsu Line.”

Sheepish, Naruto chuckles, hand reaching for the back of his neck he rubs his fingers against. 

“Never mind you’ve been using it for the last two years, a three year old can navigate that line. What—was it too complicated to follow the colours on the map? You said you knew how to get here.”

“It’s not like I was trying to get lost, all right. On the way, I missed the transfer that crossed with Yurikamome, so I took the Yokosuka Line instead, but then it was too late when I realised it only ran under Shibaura and didn’t stop here, and I had to backtrack because I thought I was going to end up all the way in Kanagawa.”

“You could have at least called me to let me know. You didn’t even pick up when I tried to call you.”

“I wanted to call you. I did. But my phone died on me because I forgot to charge it last night.”

“And you didn’t think to ask someone to borrow their phone? You didn’t even think about using a payphone? Somehow it just slipped your mind you could use your Suica as a telephone card?”

“No, I—well, I didn’t think about that. But I was trying to get here as fast as I could, because I wanted to think you’d still be here. I wasn’t trying to—”

“Shut up, Naruto.” Resigned, Sasuke sighs, reluctant and heavy. He knows Naruto didn’t mean to be late. Rarely does this kind of thing happen with Naruto and only when he’s especially anxious. The wallet he has a habit of not taking with him aside, neglecting something simple like keeping his phone charged, Naruto’s usually not so distracted.

Still, as relieved as he is to know nothing serious happened to Naruto, all that worrying over such an irresponsible guy, Sasuke can’t help but feel like an idiot. “With all those excuses, you sound worse than Kakashi.”

“I didn’t...” Naruto looks down at his outlandishly bright red shoes, scuffing the white toe of his right foot against the concrete of the sidewalk. “I didn’t think, okay. I just...didn’t. And I’m sorry. Even if it doesn’t mean much right now, I’m sorry—I am. I only wanted to...”

“What?”

“...this didn’t go anything like I planned. All the things I thought it was going to be,” Naruto says, lifting his head to meet Sasuke’s gaze, “I even convinced the old man to let me off early, because Inari came by the shop to finish up helping with inventory, so I thought...”

Sasuke takes his hands out of his pockets. One arm still held at his side, the fingers of his other hand run through his hair. “We already live together. Doing this kind of thing, it shouldn’t make a difference.”

“But it does, Sasuke. It makes a difference because you wanted to do it. We’ve never done this sort of thing before, so taking the time to try something like this, knowing you really wanted to bring me here to show me this place that’s important to you—the last thing I wanted to do was mess this up.”

Naruto laughs a little, low and strained. “Well, I’m still hoping I didn’t mess this whole thing up. I mean, I want to make this work. I do. Only, I really need for you not to let me go just yet, okay.”

“...you shouldn’t make that kind of assumption on your own. Not over something like this, Naruto.” With another sigh, Sasuke reaches with two fingers to massage his left temple. “I just...”

“I didn’t mean to make you worry like that, Sasuke.”

Sasuke’s hand drops to his side. The corner of his mouth turns down. “Who said I was worried?”

“Uh, when I got here, you looked worried enough to me.” Naruto pauses then adds with a quick series of nods, “Yeah, you looked pretty worried.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You sure?”

“Naruto...”

“You don’t have to make it out to be such a bad thing, you know,” Naruto says, with the sort of laidback smile easy to come that’s never slow to spread across his face. “I even think it’s kind of cute, since I don’t really get a chance to see you like this.”

Sasuke purses his lips, not giving him the satisfaction of a response. He knows Naruto’s not trying to mock him. He knows Naruto means well, but at a time like this, that Naruto can make light of the situation so easily, taking advantage of a concern almost painfully obvious despite Sasuke’s denial, as frustrating as Naruto sometimes claims him to be, Naruto could always find a way to be that much more aggravating.

“Come on, Sasuke,” Naruto says, almost sings with a near falsetto grating on Sasuke’s ears, “we both know you were.”

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke tries to sidestep him, but Naruto anticipates the move, already in front of him again when Sasuke pivots on the heel of his foot.

Hands clasped behind his back nearly flat, Naruto leans over. He peers up at Sasuke’s lowered face with his head cocked to the side. The smile still there widens into a playful grin that shouldn’t make him look so incredibly pleased. 

But it’s also the kind of grin that makes Sasuke’s stomach heavy and his chest too tight when he takes in a breath hitched too fast, makes him all too susceptible to the thought of losing the way Naruto looks only at him, so he swallows hard the possibility, draws back from blues eyes that know him too well, eyes that always manage to see through all the things he doesn’t know how to just say, because Sasuke still doesn’t know if he’ll ever understand how merely _being_ around Naruto can reduce him to feeling this self-consciously bare.

“Admit it. You were worried about me.”

“There’s nothing to admit. Worrying about a moron like you?” Sasuke scoffs. “Forget it. I wouldn’t bother wasting my time.”

Clenching his fists, he turns around, back facing Naruto. The distance begins to stretch between them. Long strides purposely deliberate begin to take Sasuke further away, yet for once, Naruto doesn’t come after him. This time, he doesn’t need to. It’s Sasuke who doesn’t allow himself to get too far.

He stops near the edge of the sidewalk. Heavy footsteps behind him hit the pavement. Closer, they grow louder, and Sasuke takes a deep breath, listening to Naruto bridge the gap only a few steps keeping them apart.

Fingers warm that make his skin tingle wrap around Sasuke’s arm. He doesn’t let his gaze stray from the column of the street lamp ahead to Naruto standing beside him, but neither does he pull away from the thumb brushing along the inside of his wrist.

“Sasuke, you...” A sober expression turns sharp blue eyes once teasing. Teeth sliding across the corner of his bottom lip, almost reluctant, Naruto releases Sasuke’s arm. “...you really were worried, weren’t you?” 

“That something could have happened to you? That you changed your mind and you weren’t going to come? I don’t know. I thought you...” Looking down, Sasuke gives a few small shakes of his head. He stares at Naruto’s red shoes ridiculously bright, sneers and shuts his eyes, arms held stiff at his sides.

“Damn it, Naruto, you just—I don’t know what I was thinking. Getting so hung up over a stupid loser like you who doesn’t even know how to—”

The hand reaching for the side of his face lifts his head, guides him forward, and Sasuke’s eyes shoot open at the slight pressure of full lips pressed against his own.

He almost stumbles back, but the fingers from Naruto’s other hand are firm behind his neck, tickling his skin, urging Sasuke closer with a steady touch he leans into without thinking. Slowly, he raises his hand tense between them, clutches the bottom of Naruto’s shirt gathered within curled fingers becoming lax as his eyes begin to close.

He shudders in the haze of warmth he’s come to instinctively associate with Naruto, lets himself go, lets himself just breathe at the fingers gently kneading the base of his neck. Absently, he tugs on the thin material soft in his palm. His grip tightens at Naruto’s murmur of _I’m sorry_ against the corner of his mouth, but the hand held against his neck slides to settle on his shoulder, falls away like the hand held against his cheek.

Too careful, Naruto moves to pull back. Too soon, Sasuke opens his eyes.

He blinks at the halo of light from the street lamp above them. It takes a second or two for his eyes to adjust, and he watches Naruto with a lack of focus he blames on the light. Languid, his fingers begin to loosen, gradually release their hold on Naruto’s shirt, and Sasuke blinks again when he finally lets go.

Naruto takes another step away. He laughs a little, pushes back the hair over his forehead then clears his throat. “...wow.”

Closing his mouth slightly parted, Sasuke continues to stare. As unpredictable as Naruto tends to be, however straightforward the kind of resolute guy it seems he can’t help but be, doing something like that outside the train station, practically in the middle of street, honestly, Sasuke doesn’t know what to say.

It’s the kind of thing Naruto just does. The kind of thing he still doesn’t know why he lets Naruto do to him.

Yet in this moment, even if it’s simply the fact that Naruto’s here, that Naruto wants to be here, making such a scene in public, Sasuke doesn’t know if he can bring himself to care. But knowing he can have this kind of effect on Naruto, too, maybe that makes it okay.

“Can’t believe I actually just did that, but um...” Naruto brushes the back of his hands against his clothes. He rubs the heel of his palm against the side of his pants, tries to avoid the undecided gazes of the few passersby around them.

A young woman crosses the street near them. She averts a curious stare Naruto catches and returns with a half-hearted wave of his hand. Lowering her head, she gives a soft apology overtly polite, but she doesn’t approach them. She keeps her distance then walks away.

Eyebrows furrowed, Naruto frowns, fumbling for his next words. “Shit, I...”

Sasuke licks his lips, ignoring the handful of onlookers who finally begin to leave. “...you kissed me.” 

“Yeah, I—I’m sorry. I know you don’t like that kind of thing, attracting that kind of attention. But what I said before about you waiting for me, I don’t want you to think I was making fun of you for that. I didn’t mean to take it so far.

“It’s just that I’m kind of really nervous about this whole thing, too.” Head tilted a little to the side, he gives a sort of half smile tentative and somewhat uneven that he doesn’t let completely falter. “You know how I get when I’m like that. What it does to me. So it’s not that I’m not taking this seriously—because I am. And I need you to know that because I don’t want you to think that I’m not.”

Sasuke pulls on the end of his sleeve, rubs the ribbed hem caught between two fingers.

“That you did wait for me, even though I took too long.” Naruto blushes, stares at the ground with theis soft kind of dopey smile he aims back at Sasuke.

“It...it means a lot to me, Sasuke. Really, it does. So wherever we’re supposed to go with this, I’m willing to go as far as we can. Probably more than that. Because you—I guess what I’m trying to say is, earlier, when I said I need for you not to let me go, I really meant I don’t think I’ll be able to let you go. And that’s...that’s why I’m glad you let me find you.”

Sasuke looks to the side, gaze landing on the bench he spent an hour sitting on. His fingers fall from his sleeve. He sighs and closes his eyes, giving himself another moment before he opens them again. “...you talk too much.”

“You can be such a bastard, you know that.” Mouth drawn tight, Naruto squints, manoeuvres in front of Sasuke in an attempt to stare him down, but then he starts to laugh, loud and obnoxious yet somehow still comforting to Sasuke’s ear. “Making me confess to that kind of embarrassing thing. And then you completely ignore it. Does that mean you don’t accept it?”

Sasuke hums with a slight nod raising his chin. He watches Naruto circle around him to stand by his side. “Should I?”

“You already know what I’m going to say.” Lightly, Naruto nudges Sasuke’s shoulder with his own. “But really, since we’re already here, it’s not too late, is it? We’re still good to walk around this place?”

“It’s a waste of time to go back home after coming all this way.”

“That a yes?”

“I’m not saying no.”

“Which means yes, right?”

“It means you owe me.”

“Hehe, you say that like it’s something new.”

“Dinner’s on you tonight.”

“Yosh.” Making a muscle, Naruto curls his arm held level with his shoulder. He slaps a hand over his bicep, grins that incredibly stupid determined grin Sasuke needs to learn how to permanently knock off his face. “Leave it to me.”

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke begins to walk along the edge of the sidewalk. He doesn’t look back, but it doesn’t take Naruto long to catch up, quickly settling into a pace right beside Sasuke.

“There’s a Yoshinoya or something around here, right?” Naruto says, stretching above his head his arms he then crosses behind his neck. “If there’s a Coco Ichiban, I’ll treat us to curry. Then we can share one of those really big plates and take the rest home.”

Sasuke arches an eyebrow. “Sure you can actually afford it?”

“For a guy like you,” Naruto says, “you’re surprisingly cheap, you know.”

Despite the kind of comfortable exposure he had when he was younger, Sasuke considers himself a pretty pragmatic person. It’s a familial influence he does appreciate, but he just shrugs off Naruto’s words, letting his thumbs slip into the front pockets of his pants.

“It doesn’t take much,” he admits, tries to be more casual than he actually feels when he catches Naruto staring at him.

But the light reflected in Naruto’s eyes makes them gleam, makes them appear a little too earnest, and they only seem to soften when he whispers, “Lucky for me then, huh?”

With a breath taken long and slow, Sasuke turns away, exhales. He keeps his gaze straight ahead as they near the walkway of the pier overlooking Shinshibaura Canal. In the distance he can make out the lights of the Rainbow Bridge, lamps red, white, and green strewn the length illuminating the bridge connecting Shibaura and Odaiba.

Again, Naruto nudges him, trying to hold back a smile, and Sasuke swallows as his fingers curl into his palms. “...depends.”

“On what?”

“Where’s your wallet?”

Eyes growing wide, Naruto stills beneath a street lamp near the railing of the canal. His hands slap against his thighs, and he scrambles trying to pat down his jeans.

Sasuke stops beside him, offering an unhelpful snort with a slight tilt of his head. He watches Naruto pull out a small ring of three keys, some lint, a thin black phone, two pieces of severely wrinkled paper folded into haphazard shapes, and a Suica card it takes him a few attempts to yank free.

“I, uh—” Naruto flushes, looks down at his hands full then back up to meet Sasuke’s eyes. His lips pressed together still aren’t able to hold back the sheepish laughter that escapes through a grin. “I guess I forgot it at home.” 

Reaching into his back pocket, Sasuke pulls out the well worn wallet Naruto somehow managed to leave on the bathroom sink this morning. He waves it by the corner pinched between his forefinger and thumb, teasing Naruto when he pulls the wallet back out of reach, but he shares with him the kind of smile that’s probably a little more fond than he’d rather admit.

“Looking for this?”


	12. Sweet Like Lemonade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I highly doubt I couldn't live without you."_

“You and Suigetsu had a...thing?”

Sasuke nods, outwardly nonchalant but not oblivious to Naruto’s discomfort that’s probably a little too apparent. Sat on the floor, he crosses his legs and reaches for the large pile of clean clothes in front of him and Naruto.

“But what about him and Karin? I thought they...”

“Happened during our first year, before she transferred to Tama. It was just a physical relationship, though. Didn’t even last for more than a couple of months.”

“...oh, that’s...” Naruto chews on his lower lip, picking up one of Sasuke’s shirts from on top of the pile. “That’s why you never minded him being so close. You’re usually more,” he says, making a slight gesture with his head, “you know.”

Sasuke gives an absent hum. He places a folded pair of Naruto’s dark jeans in the empty space beside him. “Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

“...long before me and you, right?”

“Long before us, Naruto.” Sasuke snatches a shirt Naruto grabs from the pile, the light grey shirt with the somewhat manic looking smiley face Naruto still refuses to get rid of. “Don’t put so much thought into something like that. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“Ha ha,” Naruto says wryly. “You’re so funny I forgot to laugh.”

“Why the sudden interest in what happened between us anyway?”

Naruto shrugs, looking to his right, away from Sasuke. “I don’t know. When we went out drinking for your birthday, what Suigetsu said about you being really sensitive _there_ , you know, that spot I thought I only knew about, it made me start to look back at things differently. I mean, I know he was joking, so I’m not upset or anything like that. Not really. It’s just...I wonder why I didn’t see it before.”

“A number of reasons. Mainly because you weren’t looking for it, and we weren’t obvious about it. Unlike a certain someone I know.”

“I don’t have to turn around to know you’re staring at me. I can _feel_ you accusing me with your eyes.”

Sasuke throws a pair of socks aimed at the back of Naruto’s head. “Feel that, too?”

Naruto turns back to face Sasuke, but the playful grin Sasuke expects isn’t there. “Sasuke...”

With a sigh, Sasuke picks up another pair of Naruto’s jeans to fold. “You really want to exchange a list of all the people we’ve been with?”

“...I didn’t say that.”

“You may as well have. It’s not like you and I were on good terms then. We didn’t even know each other, and I really didn’t like you.”

“Way to be blunt,” Naruto says, but he looks at Sasuke with one of his softer smiles. “I thought you just really liked to hold grudges.”

Sasuke snorts, almost catching himself returning Naruto’s smile with a small one of his own. “Of course, there’s always that, too.”

Slowly, Naruto’s expression begins to sober. “Why didn’t you say anything about it before, though?”

“You never asked.”

“And how was I supposed to have known to ask?”

“What—you think this is something I should have told you at the first opportunity?”

Again, Naruto looks away, making an attempt to fold a thin shirt that just ends up balled in his hand.

“Would it have made that much of a difference if you knew? Would you have let a fling I had with Suigetsu before you even really knew me affect you to that extent?”

“No.” Naruto frowns, unfurling the shirt in his hand he then spreads out on the floor. “I guess not. But still...”

Sasuke reaches with a finger and thumb to gently pull on Naruto’s cheek. “You really are such a baby. Who knows why I still like you so much.”

“Because you know you can’t live without me?” Naruto gives his best pout, which, unfortunately for him, Sasuke’s more than used to by now.

“I highly doubt I couldn’t live without you.”

“Coming up with that kind of response so quickly, are you trying to make me feel better or worse?”

With another sigh, following another gentle pull, Sasuke allows his hand to fall from Naruto’s cheek. He leans against him, closing his eyes and resting his head on Naruto’s shoulder. “...doesn’t mean I’d be willing to try.”


	13. Juliette is My Ring Ding Dong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“I don’t think it’d be appropriate to say sorry at this point when I lack the proper conviction.”_

The shirt comes off, finally, but by then Naruto’s rooted to the spot, eyes roaming on their own accord, watching Sasuke peel away the last of his clothes and gradually exposing skin Naruto has to forcibly restrain himself from reaching out to touch.

Taking his sweet time, Sasuke lets the shirt slip from his fingers to fall straight to the floor. Way too slowly, he starts to crawl towards him, and it’s a hand none too gentle on his chest that compels Naruto on his back. Well, it’s more like a hard shove, really, but resisting Sasuke in this kind of rare mood is the last thing Naruto wants to do.

Strong thighs straddle Naruto’s sides. The corner of Sasuke’s bottom lip coloured red is hidden by a brief show of front teeth. He places both hands on Naruto’s shoulders, stares down at him with dark eyes that look anything but coy.

Predatory is what first comes to mind.

Although sadistic bastard works pretty well in this situation, too.

It works in a lot of situations actually.

“You’re enjoying this a little too much, don’t you think?” Fighting to keep his hands to himself, Naruto takes a deep breath. “There’s no way you don’t like doing this on purpose.”

“It was your idea,” Sasuke whispers, right below Naruto’s ear. Raising his hips, he steadies himself with one hand resting on Naruto’s shoulder. With his other hand, he wraps long fingers around Naruto’s cock, thumb rubbing along the foreskin, up the head then flicking the slit. “You wanted me to do this, remember.”

“How could I forget,” Naruto mutters. “Had to beg you for it.” He lifts his head to kiss Sasuke’s jaw, letting loose this rough kind of sound that vibrates in his throat as Sasuke starts to pull away. His mouth misses Sasuke’s neck, lips only brushing across warm skin, and he brings his teeth together with an audible snap when Sasuke’s fully out of his reach.

He did want Sasuke to do this. All the trouble he had to go through trying to convince Sasuke, he still does. Especially since Sasuke doesn’t readily agree to do it all that often.

Sure, his track record for holding out during this kind of thing isn’t the best, but there’s something about seeing Sasuke sliding back and forth over the head of his cock—not even being inside him, but having that weight, the feel of that slight pressure on top of him, and Sasuke moving his hips painstakingly slow like he knows how to do maybe a little too well—for some reason, it just... _does_ things to him.

Not that he expects to hold out very long this time, either, just like the last time, but of course he’s not going to admit that to Sasuke.

Still, it doesn’t mean he won’t make the attempt, so he folds his hands behind his head, if only to put them somewhere that’s not on Sasuke. “Can you blame me if I like to touch you? Good things can happen when I touch you.”

Sasuke gives him this hint of a grin that might as well be called a smirk. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“I bet you really do get off on this.” Craning his neck in anticipation, Naruto hisses at the sight of his cock trapped between his stomach and Sasuke placing himself right over it. “Don’t you?”

“You’re the one who said you wanted to try it without touching me this time.”

Blowing out a puff of air, Naruto groans when Sasuke slides back a little. Not too much. Just enough that Sasuke’s skimming the underside of his cock, almost but not really sitting on top of it, and Naruto’s head falls back against the bed with a soft thud. “Okay, forget the no touching rule. I changed my mind.”

“Figures you can’t even follow your own conditions.” Two fingers grabbing Naruto’s chin, Sasuke catches Naruto’s upper lip with his mouth, but he just as soon lets go, teeth grazing lightly across supple skin as he pulls away. “...but you never last anyway.”

Naruto’s tongue brushes over his top lip. “That’s because you’re never fair.”

“Why are you being so impatient?” Running his hands over Naruto’s chest, slowly, Sasuke starts to slide forward. Really, really slowly along Naruto’s cock and pressing it flat against Naruto’s stomach. “You don’t see me in a rush.”

There’s this garbled sort of croaking sound Naruto doesn’t immediately recognise. But it’s not until after he sees the head of his cock completely disappear beneath Sasuke, feels the foreskin coated with precome being smothered over that taut space behind the back of Sasuke’s upper thighs—because that’s right up there with actually being inside Sasuke, like watching Sasuke riding him fast and hard clenched around his cock _sohotsotightsogood_ it almost hurts—that Naruto hears himself make the sound again.

“O-obviously, Sasuke. Obviously.”

“Think you can actually manage to stay still this time?”

“...I don’t know.” Pretending to be shy, Naruto turns his head to the side.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. 

“Does it count if I touch you like this?” Curling his stomach, Naruto reaches around Sasuke’s lower back. He cups Sasuke’s cheeks, pulls Sasuke towards him with fingers travelling to the back of Sasuke’s left thigh, but Sasuke twitches, twisting from the touch and quick to push away Naruto’s arm.

“Naruto, don’t...”

Sasuke’s careful expression inspires a slight quirk at the corner of Naruto’s mouth. “What about this?” He gropes Sasuke’s cock, pressing down hard and keeping his hand still without breaking his gaze, because it’s no secret Sasuke’s not as patient as he likes to appear to be.

True to form, it doesn’t take long for Sasuke to cave in. Fingers digging into Naruto’s shoulders, he drops his head with a low murmur. His breathing starts to turn heavy, and he rolls his hips, rubbing himself against Naruto’s hand while he grinds on top of Naruto’s cock.

With a grunt, he pushes off of Naruto, reaching behind him with both hands on the bed as he throws his head back.

Intent, Naruto presses his lips together, watches as Sasuke starts to slow down. He runs his hands up and down Sasuke’s thighs, turning them out a little more so he can get a better view of his cock being covered by Sasuke. Gradually, his hands make their way up Sasuke’s sides. He breathes in, breathes out. 

Head lolled back, Sasuke allows himself to be pulled up. The hands on his hips encourage him towards Naruto. They squeeze as he slides along the length of Naruto’s cock, squeezing again when he settles himself right over the head. He reaches to hold his own cock, tries to suppress this sort of really shameless-sounding kind of moan as he starts to get himself off with Naruto’s cock moving back and forth underneath him.

Hard, Naruto swallows the lump in his throat.

He gives it a couple of seconds, a moment or two that ends up seeming a lot longer than it actually is.

It’s not like they both didn’t already know he wasn’t going to last anyway.

Without warning, he sits up. He breathes into Sasuke’s neck, reaching around Sasuke to grab the back of his thighs. Measured thrusts shove his cock against Sasuke’s. They make Sasuke bounce on his lap, up and down and again, and Naruto thrusts one more time before lowering himself back on the bed and taking Sasuke with him.

“ _Got you_.”

Sasuke doesn’t exactly frown, but he still gives Naruto this little annoyed look that has the opposite effect of what he probably intended. “...that’s not going to work on me every time.”

Planting his feet apart on the bed, pulling Sasuke between his legs, Naruto leers, kneading the skin at that spot behind Sasuke’s left thigh that causes Sasuke to twitch again. “Haven’t had a problem with it so far.” 

“N-naru—”

Sasuke jolts when Naruto slams up into him, starts to squirms against Naruto lowering then raising his hips again and again. A visible shudder runs through him. His body contorts, bending at the waist, and he muffles a choked cry on Naruto’s chest, pushing away from the fingers attempting to leave impressions on his hips.

Naruto grunts at the fist prodding his side. Knuckles drag along his ribs as he lowers his hands to clutch the back of Sasuke’s legs. He pulls Sasuke up with a jerk, hisses and wraps his arms around Sasuke’s waist.

Muscles stretched tight, he holds Sasuke firm against his chest. Raising his hips, he tries to extend a too short-lived burst of friction, tries to hang on to the feel of his cock brushed up against Sasuke’s, the feel of Sasuke’s cock pressed against his skin.

Sasuke groans, moving against Naruto, but the arms around him keep him still. His foot flails, and he casts one arm to the side, hitting the bed with a fist once, then two more times before trying to push away with the heel of his palm.

Suddenly, Naruto rolls back his pelvis and shoves up, drives into Sasuke with a quick series of controlled thrusts starting an unyielding momentum that forces Sasuke’s head to snap up with a sharp gasp. 

Sasuke buries his face in the crook of Naruto’s neck, fingers clawing at the sheets as his body carries the motion of every other thrust.

“Just like that, Sasuke, come on. It’s not too much. It’s not too much.”

Tightening his hold on Sasuke’s waist, Naruto flips Sasuke on his back. He reaches for Sasuke’s arms and throws them above Sasuke’s head. His right hand keeps both of Sasuke’s wrists pinned to the bed. The other hand travels up Sasuke’s side then slips over his hip down to Sasuke’s thigh. Bringing an arm behind the back of Sasuke’s knee, he hoists Sasuke’s leg over his shoulder.

He places himself at an angle, draws back with his pelvis and slams down hard. Faster, he starts to move, faster and faster with each gasp from Sasuke, each soft intake of _Naruto_ mixed in with an occasional death threat or two.

Or five.

But he can’t deny he craves Sasuke like this, loves the fact that Sasuke actually likes doing this with him, too even if he still refuses to admit it most of the time, because it’s hot and heavy the way Naruto likes it. Everything else dissolves, and it’s just them. It’s just grunts and moans and the sound of skin slapping against skin echoing off the walls—all caught between those surges of that really feel-good kind of friction there and gone and _rightthere_ again.

It never feels like he can get enough.

“...look at me, Sasuke.”

Sasuke shuts his eyes with a hitched gasp, bucking against him, but Naruto just pushes back down harder. Sharper.

“Don’t get shy on me now. Show me you want it. Show me how much you want it.”

Pressing the side of his face against his arm, Sasuke shakes his head, lips drawn tight to hold back muted noises that start to grow louder. 

“Look at—”

Again, Sasuke shakes his head, turning his face into his other arm.

“ _Look at me_.”

Naruto’s fingers depress hard into the back of Sasuke’s left thigh, and Sasuke arches into him with wide eyes, voice cracking with a strangled cry. He shoves aside Sasuke’s leg over his shoulder, freeing his hand that moves to grab Sasuke’s jaw.

Hovering above Sasuke’s face, he opens his mouth but moves just out of reach when Sasuke lifts his head trying to kiss him. He puts a little more pressure in his grip. Palm cupping Sasuke’s chin, his fingers press a little harder into Sasuke’s skin. He breathes over Sasuke’s bottom lip, almost takes it in his mouth before drawing back.

Sasuke slides his chest along Naruto’s, rubbing against him with firm nipples lightly dragging across Naruto’s skin.

A groan comes deep from the back of Naruto’s throat. He dives down to cover Sasuke’s mouth, swallows his low murmur and kisses him wet and greedy, almost bruising when his hand moves to tilt Sasuke’s head further back. He moans into Sasuke’s mouth, hips bearing down on him hard and sinking Sasuke into the bed.

Pulling away, he licks his lips. His fingers let go of Sasuke’s jaw to trail up Sasuke’s arm and reach for one of his wrists. He keeps both held down with one in each hand, watches Sasuke watching him, and his eyes travel down to stare at Sasuke’s parted lips made shiny by saliva.

Then he starts to move.

Starts to thrust against Sasuke, keeping their groins flush, rotating his hips with small jerks, relentless, rubbing his cock all over Sasuke and pressing down into coarse hair trailing down hot skin.

Sasuke gasps, curving his spine in an arc that brushes his chest against Naruto’s. He lowers his back, raising his knees with both feet flat on the bed, closing his eyes and opening his legs.

“You like that, huh.” Naruto grits his teeth, almost unleashes a growl through the words that come out thick and heavy. “Mhm—mhm, you like that. You like that.”

Folding his mouth shut, Sasuke starts to move, starts to shift up and down the bed almost frantic against him.

“Come on, Sasuke, give it to me. Give it to me, Sasuke, come on—come on.”

Sasuke’s breathing starts to get louder, snagged at the end of low moans that start to rise in pitch, higher and higher, coming in faster and faster with each swing of his hips making large circles meeting Naruto’s thrusts.

“That’s it—give it to me just like that.” Naruto licks his lips again, hands on Sasuke’s wrists pushing down hard and voice dropping to a low whisper, “... _give it to me_.”

Sasuke shoves into him with a sharp cry, and Naruto twitches. He turns stiff for a moment, stomach coiling when Sasuke shudders beneath him.

A sharp thrust sinks Sasuke deeper into the bed, keeps their cocks touching caught between them, and Naruto just holds him there for a second, holds as long as he can to that really tight feeling from being pressed up against Sasuke like this. With a low groan, he starts to loosen up. He leans down, nuzzling his cheek against the side of Sasuke’s face. Letting go of Sasuke’s wrists, he takes a breather in the silence that eventually settles between them.

He starts to ease off Sasuke and wriggles a little to make himself comfy, crossing his arms on top of Sasuke’s chest and resting his chin on his forearm. Real deep, he inhales and exhales. Nice and easy. “I don’t think it’d be appropriate to say sorry at this point when I lack the proper conviction.”

Sasuke drapes an arm over his forehead, chest heaving. He stares at the ceiling, just lies there on the bed, listless with Naruto on top of him. “...Uzumaki Naruto, I am going to fucking _end_ you.”

“Sure, you say you want to kill me now.” Naruto uses a pinkie to scratch the back of his ear. “Just wait until the next time. You’ll say you want to kill me then, too.”

Pushing his hair away from his face, Sasuke takes a deep breath and lets out this incredulous huff. “This time I’ll make sure there won’t be a next time—I knew you wouldn’t last.”

Naruto chuckles, the sound a low rumble resonating against Sasuke’s chest. “Yeah, I know I tend to get carried away, but what can I say? It’s not like you don’t get really into it, too.”

“You shouldn’t wear such a pleased expression about that kind of thing.”

“Hehe.” Rising to stand on his knees, Naruto ruffles his hair, sitting back on his feet. “I’m still hard, though.” He glances down at his bobbing erection then wiggles his eyebrows when he looks up in time to catch Sasuke turning his head away. 

“Not my problem. Take care of it yourself.”

“And you’re fine?” Naruto makes the short reach for Sasuke’s cock. He hums when Sasuke starts to make slow thrusts into hand. “I’m pretty sure this says it’s not just my problem.”

But then Sasuke stops, keeping Naruto’s hand still with his fingers curled around Naruto’s arm. “W-wait. Not yet.”

“What?”

Pushing away from Naruto’s hand, Sasuke shuffles back a little, sitting up to reach over for the condom and the small bottle of lube on the table beside the bed. He narrows his eyes at the look dangerously close to bordering on smug that Naruto gives him. “Don’t say anything.”

“Nothing to make a big deal out of.” Unable not to crack a smile, Naruto takes the condom and bottle Sasuke all but slaps into his hand. “I just didn’t realise how much you liked it when I—”

Sasuke reaches for the back of Naruto’s head and quiets him with a harried kiss. Slowly, when Naruto gives up a moan from the back of his throat, Sasuke begins to draw away. “What’d I just say?”

Biting back a grin, Naruto watches Sasuke make himself comfortable on the bed while shifting on top of the pillow he places under his back. His eyes follow the slow extension of one leg, and he pats twice the knee of the other leg Sasuke leaves raised. “Not another word.”

He lays the condom down beside him and takes the cap off the lube, emptying what’s left of the bottle into his palm.

Before he has a chance to do anything with the lube, however, Sasuke grabs Naruto’s hand and places it over his cock. He starts to take in shallow breaths, sighs as he spreads his legs just enough for Naruto to move in between them. Rubbing himself against Naruto’s hand, he slowly guides it over his sack, then pushes it lower, gasps when Naruto decides to work in a finger, and the slight arch of his back turns into this fluid motion he keeps going with a roll of his hips.

He lets go of Naruto’s hand. Closing his eyes, he stretches out his arms, folding them above his head and releasing this low sort of heady moan that makes Naruto’s cock twitch.

Teeth dragging down the left corner of his bottom lip, he opens his legs a little wider, making that same sound again, this time with the tiniest hint of a grin curved around Naruto’s name.

The bottle of lube tumbling out of his hand onto the bed, Naruto just stares, gulps with his mouth suddenly dry that goes slack when Sasuke begins to rock himself on one finger that gradually becomes two, then three, and fuck if he can’t get the condom on fast enough.

It takes him a few tries, a few unnecessary added seconds that encompasses the time it takes to rip open the condom, because the way Sasuke’s moving like that, making those kinds of sounds, yeah, Sasuke really does know how to be distracting, but eventually, Naruto does get the damn thing on.

He settles himself over Sasuke, one elbow placed beside him on the bed. Little by little, he starts to guide the tip of his cock in. He forces out a breath through his nose, gritting his teeth while trying not to move too soon. “Jeeze, you’re tight.”

“Mm-hm.” There’s a slight movement of his hips, and Sasuke shifts against Naruto’s cock. He opens his eyes with a jolt, reaching with his right hand for Naruto’s waist. His fingers trail lightly along Naruto’s side, and he pauses to place his arm around Naruto’s shoulders.

“You okay?”

Raising his left leg, Sasuke slings it over Naruto’s back, his heel digging into Naruto’s skin and urging him closer. “Are you seriously asking me that now?”

“Che. Well, excuse me for caring.” But Naruto laughs and doesn’t allow himself to move for a few more seconds.

Sasuke nudges him one more time with his foot then lowers it back to the bed. “Get on with it.”

“So pushy.” Breathing in, Naruto breathes out as his cock slips out of Sasuke. His fingers curl around the base, and he gives it a few strokes before beating it lightly on Sasuke’s own cock. He slides the head along the hollow at the juncture of Sasuke’s inner thigh, up and back down again, hisses when he slides it down further and starts to press into Sasuke again. “R-relax for me, first.”

“You’re the one who needs to relax.”

Probably, but slow and steady isn’t exactly Naruto’s thing. He still tries, though, because sometimes Sasuke does like it, and he can’t remember a time when the payoff wasn’t worth it.

Then again, Sasuke also likes being a goddamn tease.

He meets Naruto’s prolonged thrust with a more obvious restraint but starts to pull away, actually starts to move back, and then has the nerve to give him this almost haughty look when Naruto places a shaky hand on Sasuke’s hip to keep him still.

“You know,” Naruto says, “it really wouldn’t hurt you to stop being so full of yourself every once in a while.”

“I know.” Closing his eyes, Sasuke absently sighs with this lazy kind of satisfaction. He rotates his hips, deliberately slow, and pushes himself a little further on Naruto’s cock. 

Naruto tilts his head back and exhales. He looks back down to see the head of his cock being taken in, groans as he watches it disappear inside Sasuke. Not even halfway in and he’s this tense, but he waits to move when Sasuke stops.

Slowly, Sasuke unfolds the arms over his head. Elbows pointed out, he lays one hand over the other, resting his cheek against his shoulder. There’s a slight curve to his back that lifts him from the pillow and makes his chest rise just a little. Eyes not fully open peer at Naruto with a heavy gaze and parted lips that give way to this really soft, almost indulgent moan.

“Stop staring at me and move, Naruto.”

Honestly, it’s not Naruto’s fault if that kind of thing’s become something of a habit.

“You look really hot like that,” he murmurs, running his hands up and down Sasuke’s sides. “Not as hot as me, of course, but still...”

“Is your sad attempt at dirty talk actually supposed to turn me on?”

“Nah. I already know what turns you on. I just really don’t mind looking at you when you’re like this.” His hands that moved to rest along the back of Sasuke’s thighs travel back up to settle on Sasuke’s waist, and Naruto draws circles into Sasuke’s skin with his thumbs. “Because you’re really hot.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“You’re real modest, too.” Naruto snorts. “And you call me cocky.”

“You are.”

Naruto leans over, moving his hands facedown to rest on either side of Sasuke’s head. “Knowing what you like, since when does that make me cocky?” He looks at Sasuke with a sly grin. “Or is it you can’t admit I just make you feel that good?”

“No, you’re just that cocky.”

“You saying you don’t like that I know what it does to you when I do this?” 

Sasuke shivers when Naruto kisses him right beneath his lower jaw. He clutches Naruto’s hair with both hands, pulling him closer with a sharp intake of breath that becomes uneven when Naruto starts to suck on his neck. “C-cocky and annoying.”

“All this coming from the guy who really likes to ride my—”

“I don’t, uh, I don’t keep—ah, keep you around for your ability to talk too much. Put your mouth to good use.”

Naruto grins into Sasuke’s skin with a low chuckle. Sneaking an arm underneath Sasuke’s lower back, he lifts him up to meet another thrust, pacing himself so he won’t be tempted to move too fast. “So my mouth’s the only reason you keep me around, huh? Nothing else?”

Leaning his head back, Sasuke elongates his neck, making room for Naruto’s mouth seemingly attached to it. “...I guess I could have done worse.”

Naruto’s teeth lightly nip at Sasuke’s skin. He raises his head to look down at Sasuke with a playful growl, masking a more serious tone that still manages to come through his voice. “You really want to go there?”

Sasuke just looks up at him with this little teasing grin, running a hand through Naruto’s hair. He moves his hips from side to side to take in more of Naruto’s cock. It’s almost a little more than halfway in, and he starts to rock against it, grabbing Naruto’s arm to run his fingers up and down fine hairs that tickle Naruto’s skin. 

When Naruto starts to pull back, though, Sasuke gives him a pointed look, tightening the grip on his arm. “Don’t move.”

Naruto lets out a gruff sort of laugh. “Still think I’m cocky?”

Relaxing, Sasuke hums with a slight nod. His hips stop moving, and he pushes back strands of damp hair from Naruto’s face he reaches to hold with both hands. His fingers are light traces along the length of blond sideburns. He brings Naruto close, almost kisses him with a wisp of air blown across Naruto’s mouth, and really, Naruto can’t help that he gets distracted by Sasuke’s lips again. “But I’m better.”

So when his eyes grow wide at the sudden tightness that really shouldn’t have been so unexpected, Naruto can’t help the thick rasp that comes out, either, and he nearly falls when Sasuke shifts up only to slam back down on his cock.

Hunched over, he props his elbows on the bed, trying to give himself some kind of leverage to keep his balance against a Sasuke who doesn’t seem like he wants to let up on him anytime soon.

“What’s the matter,” Sasuke says, licking his lips, “suddenly can’t keep up?”

Warm hands don’t let go of his face, and Naruto grits his teeth, fighting back a deep groan that Sasuke’s still able to get out of him. There really should be a no talking rule for Sasuke while they’re having sex. “I wasn’t r-ready.”

“I thought you liked it hard and fast?” Sasuke raises both feet on the bed, lifting his knees to hold Naruto between his legs. “Unless it’s too much for you...”

“Like you’re—like you’re one to talk.” Panting, Naruto squeezes his eyes shut as he sucks in a harsh breath that comes out sounding a little too strained. Yeah, that no talking rule for Sasuke definitely needs to start being enforced. “You wouldn’t be so high and mighty if I—”

Swaying his hips, Sasuke opens his legs a little wider, going left and right while he’s going up and down on Naruto’s cock, taking it all the way in to sit on top of Naruto’s sack making loud slaps against his skin and bringing Naruto that much closer on the verge of collapse.

“Didn’t you want me to look at you, Naruto?” His name rolls off Sasuke’s tongue, drawn out long and slow and somehow still managing to come across steady despite the way Sasuke’s moving against him. “I can’t look at you if you’re not watching me.”

Blunt nails scrape at the sheets, and Naruto makes fists clutching the soft material seeping between his fingers.

“Don’t you want to watch me?”

Naruto doesn’t even know what he wants to do anymore, how he’s even supposed to breathe anymore, but his eyes are forced open with a sharp gasp when Sasuke sits on him again then suddenly decides to stop moving.

“Stay right here, Naruto.” Sasuke’s pulls Naruto’s head down, cradles Naruto’s face above his to pull him down so very close. “Right here—stay like this,” he breathes, and Naruto shudders at Sasuke’s lips brushing the soft words right against his mouth, “... _stay inside me_.”

A long guttural moan is wrenched from Naruto’s throat when he feels muscles clamping down hard around his cock sohotosotight _sodamngood_ —feels like the life’s being squeezed out of him, like he seriously can’t move even though his legs won’t stop trembling.

“Shit, S-sasuke, you—” His voice comes out a hoarse cry, and he actually whimpers, fucking _whimpers_ , digging his teeth into his lip, because it’s hot and it’s tight and it feels so good that he just wants to pull out and shove right back in, do it over and over again into that slick warmth, just wants to lose himself inside of Sasuke.

“Don’t move,” Sasuke murmurs, then his mouth turns up slightly at the corner to reveal that same too highly amused little grin that could pretty much pass for a smirk, just daring Naruto to look away.

But Naruto doesn’t try, couldn’t tear his gaze away even if he wanted to, because Sasuke doesn’t stop watching him, dark eyes focusing only on him, and there’s something about that tiny little grin that causes this really sharp tingle in Naruto’s right knee that makes his toes curl.

So he just kisses Sasuke instead, figures it’s a good enough compromise, even better when he leans into the touch of Sasuke’s arms moving to wrap tight around him that hug him close.

Drawing back, he slips his elbows to hook from the underneath Sasuke’s arms, flattening Sasuke’s cock sliding against his stomach as he starts to move with him. He pulls out halfway then pushes back in, tries to find some kind of rhythm to match Sasuke’s.

His movements start to pick up, and he drives into Sasuke a little faster, harder with quick shallow thrusts that make Sasuke hold on to him a little tighter, make Sasuke press his face against Naruto’s shoulder with soft gasps of _Naruto_ searing hot air into his skin.

He drops his head with a breathless whisper of Sasuke’s name, holds Sasuke close to him, so close he can’t tell which one of them is shaking—or maybe they both are—but he’s still not as close as he wants to be yet.

He’s getting closer, though. Real close. So close he’s almost there. So damn ridiculously close, he’s almost _rightthere_ with Sasuke clenching and unclenching around his cock, Sasuke moaning and arching into him. A little more. Just a little bit more and he’s right—

Pushing himself as much as he can inside Sasuke, Naruto stills. The balls of his feet bear down against the bed. His whole body goes rigid. The muscles in his leg contract, stiffen with his back and his arms taut supporting most of his weight.

A sharp hiss turns into a shuddering moan. Pushing back into Sasuke, he rides outs these sporadic little tremors, shoving Sasuke up the bed with a few more delayed thrusts until his cock starts to soften.

Sasuke runs his hands up and down Naruto’s back, slowly rocking himself against Naruto’s cock after Naruto stops moving. He lets his arms fall to the bed with a long sigh, finally loosening up from around him.

“...we really should find the time to do this more. I mean...” Lifting his hips, Naruto starts to pull out, carefully, because Sasuke still feels kind of tight around him, and he groans at the feel of his cock slipping free. Sprawling himself on top of Sasuke, he takes a deep breath and gradually lets it go. They’re both sticky and sort of sweaty, but he’s a little too spent to feel like getting up just yet. “...really.”

“Like we don’t do it enough as it is.”

“I never said we didn’t. Twice a week is good.”

Sasuke absently rubs his foot against the inside of Naruto’s ankle. “More like three or four.”

“Okay, more like three or four times a week. I’m just suggesting the possibility of doing it a lot more.”

“The day I decide to indulge you is the day you actually one-up me.”

“So,” Naruto draws out, sitting up on his elbows with an eager grin, “we’re going to start having sex more often now?”

Sasuke snorts, crossing his arms over the back of Naruto’s neck. “You really think you can one-up me?” 

“Heh, is that even a question? I, the Great Uzumaki Naruto, finally caught the Menacing Himiko-bastard’s attention. What more do I need to prove?”

Sasuke frowns, giving a light poke to the back of Naruto’s head. “I thought you stopped calling me that.” 

“Even after all this time, it still has a special ring to it. Hmm, Himiko-bastard...”

“You must not want to have sex anymore.”

“Let’s face it, Sasuke. You’re a guy. You like sex too much to give it up that easy. It’s in your genes.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“We’ll see,” Sasuke says. “Call me that name again, though, and I’ll refresh your genes on what it feels like to be single.”

Naruto gives him a quick peck on the lips. “As long as I get to be single with you.”

Letting his arms fall from around Naruto’s neck, Sasuke rolls his eyes. “...you’re so corny, Naruto.” He makes a half-hearted attempt to nudge Naruto. “Now get off me. I need to shower. You’re sticky, and you’re all over me.”

“I thought you liked it when I was all over you? Better yet, when I’m deep inside—”

Reaching up for an unnecessarily harsh tug on Naruto’s hair, Sasuke gives him a dry look that’s far from inviting.

“Fine, fine.” With a snicker, Naruto rolls off Sasuke. “You win.”

Sasuke gives him a gentle shove on the back. Sitting up, he reaches for the hand towel draped over the headboard.

Naruto gets up and swings his legs over the edge of the bed. Hands clasped together, he stands with his arms raised towards the ceiling. He takes a few good seconds to stretch, making a show of flexing the stiff muscles in his back. Dropping his arms, he exaggerates a couple of shoulder shrugs, fully aware of Sasuke’s eyes watching his every move as he peels off the condom and throws it away in the small trash bin against the wall.

“...really, who are you trying to impress, Naruto?”

“Nobody.” Naruto looks at Sasuke from over his shoulder, wearing a wide grin at Sasuke’s softly amused expression. “Just proving I still know how to catch a certain Himiko-bastard’s atten—”

A low scowl is a laughing Naruto’s only warning before he ducks through the door, barely dodging the empty bottle of lube that almost hits him in the head.


	14. That's All the Words I Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Y-you idiot—stop worrying about my eyes and get off me!”_

“See— _see_? It’s just like I told you. I keep seeing him everywhere.”

Shikamaru arches both eyebrows at Naruto staring extremely hard at the two guys sitting five tables down from them. “That guy you ran into last month?”

“Yeah,” Naruto says, offhanded, barely paying any attention to Shikamaru. “Yeah, the crazy guy who was walking around with a freaking shaman stick—Himiko-bastard.”

Shikamaru tries to get a good look at this so-called Himiko-bastard. He can’t see too well from this angle, but he can make out dark hair and dark eyes, which isn’t descriptive in the least, considering it describes the majority of Japan’s population; however, bizarre choice of moniker aside, it’s his first glimpse of the infamous guy Naruto has yet to stop complaining about.

Looks somewhat familiar, though. From one of his classes or something. He may actually have to pay attention during the rest of the week to make sure. The curiosity that’s gradually been building may just be enough to curb his usual indolence.

Sitting next to him, Chouji, one of the more reasonable and sane students he’s been fortunate enough to come across at Tama so far, looks between Naruto and the guy Naruto’s trying to burn holes into by sheer will alone, then turns his attention back to Shikamaru. He opens a large bag of hot and spicy shrimp flavoured chips and pops one into his mouth. “So...”

“Right,” Shikamaru says, not completely forgetful of the manners instilled by his overbearing mother that finally start to kick in. He makes a flippant gesture with his hand and nods towards Naruto. “Chouji, meet my roommate. Naruto, Chouji.”

Chouji waves at Naruto with two fingers. “Yo.”

Still glaring at his purported rival he’s only met once, Naruto grunts. He absently stabs at his neglected ramen with his chopsticks, spilling a little bit of broth over the rim of the small cup and muttering something Shikamaru really doesn’t care to know.

Of course, with his luck, or simply because it’s Naruto, he finds out anyway.

“Everywhere,” Naruto says, voice beginning to rise, “the guy shows up everywhere I don’t want him to be. And by everywhere, I mean _everywhere_. I’ve even seen him on the train a few times. Like some kind of demonic cicada that still won’t die even after summer’s over. He’s probably a rokurokubi in disguise or something.”

“ _A long neck spirit_?” Chouji silently mouths at Shikamaru.

“I assume it has something to do with his aversion to snakes.”

Chouji blinks twice.

“Naruto tends to overshare a little too much. Learning these kinds of things about him, honestly, I didn’t have a choice.”

“Definitely a rokurokubi pretending to be human,” Naruto says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Himiko-bastard turned into one because his karma was so low.”

“...Tama’s a pretty small school,” Chouji offers, more than a little cautious with his choice of words. “Maybe it’s a coincidence?”

Naruto’s eyes narrow even further, and his voice actually darkens. “Like hell it is.”

Shikamaru shrugs when Chouji sends a questioning look his way. “Running into the same people, that kind of thing’s not to be unexpected in a dining hall. Just don’t try telling him it’s not some perverse form of serendipity.”

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Chouji gives a slight nod in understanding, glancing back to Naruto. “Ah.”

“You seem thoroughly entertained by this little fiasco,” Shikamaru says, with a somewhat amused gleam in his eyes.

“Well, I can’t say I haven’t seen worse.” Throwing back another chip, leaning closer to Shikamaru, Chouji whispers none too softly, “Still, he’s a little obsessed, isn’t he? Maybe even a little paranoid, too.”

“At this rate, it’s a wonder they haven’t had a class together yet.”

“Yet?”

“Matter of time. I’m sure Naruto’ll be pursuing this vendetta at least until the end of the term. That’s how these kinds of things are supposed to work. Like a really bad comedy. I bet that guy’s going to end up being more trouble than he’s worth.”

“Hmm, I see what you’re saying.” Chouji continues to stare, interest piquing when Naruto begins to gnaw through the disposable chopsticks trapped between his teeth. “Um...Naruto, you’re kind of eating through your chopsticks, man.”

Unsurprisingly, Naruto seems completely oblivious, still staring at his Himiko-bastard while grinding away at the thin pieces of wood on the verge of snapping.

“...I didn’t realise it was that serious.”

Shikamaru raises a placating hand, shaking his head at Chouji. “Once this guy gets started, it’s best just to let this kind of thing run its course.”

“That’s it!” Yanking the chopsticks out of his mouth, Naruto slams them on the table and abruptly stands. It’s really not that dramatic a statement, especially considering the already noisy atmosphere that drowns out the sound of his chair scraping against the floor.

But he seems more than compelled enough to follow through with his sudden declaration.

“I’m going over there.”

Not that Shikamaru has any intention of trying to stop him anyway. Instead, he looks to Chouji. His gaze then trails back to a visibly determined Naruto treading away from their table. “You’ve seen worse than that, too, I gather.”

“Yep.” Not taking his eyes off Naruto, Chouji holds the bag of shrimp chips towards Shikamaru. “Want some?”

...

Whatever that Chouji guy said, there’s no way how many times he’s seen this bastard could ever be a coincidence. It just can’t be. Everywhere he goes, that bastard’s always somewhere around the corner, and it’s getting old really fast. He’s only been here a month, yet he can’t go two days without almost running into the guy.

So three tables down, only two more away from his destination, he lengthens his stride. The stride of a man who won’t be bested by some rokurokubi, the stride of a man on a mission, it’s the stride of the Great Uzumaki Naruto who’s finally going to confront the Menacing Himiko-bastard once and for all.

Accordingly, his hands hit the table of his destination with a bang, palms flat on the surface and right in front of Himiko-bastard’s tray. He squints at him, doing a double take when the white-haired guy sitting beside Himiko-bastard calmly takes a sip of his kimchi ramune soda.

Naruto’s had octopus ramune before, so really, he can’t exactly talk, but still. Kimchi ramune? He doesn’t personally know anybody who actually drinks the stuff.

Anyway.

“ _You_ ,” he says, back to narrowing his eyes at Himiko-bastard.

The other guy puts down his soda and points to his nose. “Me?”

“No.” Temporarily distracted, Naruto shakes his head and once more goes back to narrowing his eyes at Himiko-bastard, who, tearing off a small piece of his steamed meat bun to put in his mouth, doesn’t even flinch. “ _You_.”

After a few seconds of Naruto glaring and Himiko-bastard chewing that seem to pass by painfully slow, Himiko-bastard finally looks up, and Naruto’s met with dark eyes.

“What?”

“Don’t you know who I am?”

Himiko-bastard props an elbow on the table, with the side of his face resting against the back of his hand. He gives Naruto this extremely bland expression. “Am I supposed to?”

“Hey—hey, that’s not how it works. I asked you a question first.” Pushing up from the table, Naruto points a volatile finger that nearly hits Himiko-bastard in the nose. “You can’t answer a question with a question.”

“Let me rephrase this in a way that may be easier for you to understand.” One eyebrow arched, Himiko-bastard cocks his head a little to the side. “Do I look like I care?”

Naruto squawks.

“Now that we’ve established how much I don’t, go away.” Himiko-bastard tears off another small piece of his meat bun. “Drawing so much attention like this, you’re making a scene, and I don’t even know you.”

“What do you mean you don’t know me? How can you not know who I am? I’m the one you hit with that damn shaman stick, you cruel and heartless bastard. I couldn’t even run for a week because you made me sprain my ankle.”

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Himiko-bastard gives Naruto a quick onceover, hardly impressed. “I can tell.”

“What’re you trying to—”

“Oh, I see,” the other guy says, elbow on Himiko-bastard’s shoulder and leaning closer to study Naruto. “So Blondie here’s the reason why you were so testy that day. About your shinai. Mm, everything suddenly makes sense now.”

Naruto draws his head back, making a face. “...did you—did you just call me Blondie?”

“I wasn’t the moron with no sense of direction.” Ignoring Naruto’s indignant cry of _I’m not a moron_ , Himiko-bastard gives the other guy a blank look for his efforts, shrugging off the elbow on his shoulder. When his gaze turns back to Naruto, though, he settles on something decidedly closer to irritation. “You’re the one who ran into me.”

“That’s not what—wait a minute, this means you do remember me, don’t you?” Naruto pulls up a chair, turning the back of it against the table and taking a seat. He crosses his arms on top of the table and glowers. “You said you didn’t know me, you liar.”

“I’ve never seen you before that day. I don’t know you.”

“Uzumaki—”

“I didn’t say I wanted to, either.”

“Uzumaki Naruto,” Naruto says, eyes slightly tapered with a cheeky grin. “And you’re going to remember it.”

Himiko-bastard snorts.

“Tch. I’m still waiting for an apology, too. You didn’t even say you were sorry for hitting me.”

“Then you’ll be waiting a long time because I’m not. You shouldn’t have been in the way.”

At a loss, Naruto just blinks. “What sort of faulty reasoning is that supposed to be?”

“Don’t mind him,” the other guy says to Naruto with an excessively cheerful smile. He steals a meat bun from Himiko-bastard’s tray, receiving a far from amused look in return, but he just leans closer to Himiko-bastard’s face. “And here I thought you weren’t a people person when we first met. You just like to hold grudges, don’t you?”

“Suigetsu...”

“He’s not always like this,” the other guy—Suigetsu—says, drawing back and taking a bite out of his stolen meat bun. “Really, he’s a nice guy once you get to know him. Ridiculously polite, too. Or at least once you get past the constant threats he never follows through with and these really neurotic tendencies he has. Like when he does laundry, he has to use the—”

“Don’t you have a class you’re going to be late for?” 

“And leave you here alone? With all the strange kind of attention you tend to attract, I wouldn’t want to miss out on anything interesting like this. Art Theory doesn’t start for another hour anyway,” Suigetsu says, glancing at his watch. “Besides, I actually sort of like you, remember.”

“I don’t see how,” Naruto mutters, feeling a little left out of the conversation he’s immediately pulled back into when Himiko-bastard gives him this _look_ , this so over the top condescending _look_ that makes him feel like his intelligence is somehow being insulted by a glare alone.

Which, considering the kind of person Himiko-bastard is, it probably is.

“You’re still here?”

“Listen, you evil shaman stick-wielding demonic rokurokubi—”

Snorting into his ramune soda, Suigetsu snickers.

“—the only reason I came over here is because I can’t stop seeing you all the time. Ever since that day, you keep showing up everywhere I don’t want you to be, so whatever you think you’re doing following me around like that,” Naruto says, standing a finger upright on the table, “it needs to stop now.”

Making this little hmph noise, Himiko-bastard returns back to his food, using a pair of chopsticks to pick up a plain looking rice ball.

“Hey—you can’t do that. You’re not supposed to ignore people when they’re talking to you.”

Without even looking up, Himiko-bastard says, “Watch me.”

“Come on, bangjjak” Suigetsu says, bearing a toothy grin at an exasperated looking Himiko-bastard he again leans close to. “No need to be so mean to the guy. You should try being more friendly. It’s already been a month, right?”

Himiko-bastard rolls his eyes.

“Is that your name?” Naruto blurts out, trying to repeat what Suigetsu said. It feels foreign and unfamiliar on his tongue, doesn’t sound anything close to Japanese, but he tries to pronounce it again anyway, earning a chuckle from Suigetsu.

“You’re funny, Blondie. Really funny,” he says. “Like your name.”

“What the—”

“So not only are you dense, but apparently you’re hard of hearing, too.” Himiko-bastard gives Naruto another one of those extremely bland looks, unscrewing the cap to his bottle of jasmine tea. “Fascinating.”

“That doesn’t even—why would you even— _gah,_ you’re such a—” Groaning, Naruto pulls at his hair, turning around in his chair to face Himiko-bastard. “What kind of person are you? Flaunting that kind of off-putting personality, who actually goes around willingly saying those kinds of mean—”

Suigetsu interrupts Naruto’s outburst with a snap of his fingers. “That’s where I know you from. You’re that guy who transferred to Professor Umino’s class at the last minute last week then almost got kicked out for being so loud, yeah?”

Sitting up, Naruto grins, more than a little sheepish. It wasn’t one of his prouder moments, getting into an argument so early in his first term with that Tobio guy for something he can’t even remember now, but it was all a simple misunderstanding.

Really.

“An idiot like you,” Himiko-bastard says, taking a sip of his tea, “figures.”

But back to the more important matter at hand.

“At least I’m not the one haunting poor innocent people with plans to drain their blood at night.”

“Why would I drain anyone’s—what is your problem? We both happen to be attending the same school. How could that kind of coincidence possibly be my fault? You actually think I’d go out of my way to follow a dumbass like you?”

“And the hell’s that supposed to mean, huh?” Naruto nearly throws himself the short distance between them. Placed only a few centimetres away, he squints. “You got something against me, Himiko-bastard?”

“Don’t.” Himiko-bastard’s left eye starts to twitch. Violently, his grip tightens on the plastic bottle of tea he sets on the table. He glowers at Naruto. “Call me that.”

“Himiko-bastard?” Suigetsu outright cackles, taking a loud sip of his drink through the straw in his mouth. “This guy must really have it out for you.”

Himiko-bastard levels a glare at him, too.

“What’s your name then, bastard?”

“Like I should feel any obligation to answer such a presumptuous guy.” Himiko-bastard purses his lips. “You’re the idiot who came over here making completely senseless claims to people you don’t even know with the intention of starting some kind of confrontation. For the last time. Go. Away.”

“Not until you tell me your name.” Not in the least discouraged, Naruto inches closer and closer towards Himiko-bastard’s face, placing himself only a few centimetres away. 

“It’s none of your business,” Himiko-bastard hisses. “Now _leave_.”

A slight upturn of Naruto’s lips quickly edges into a smirk. “Unless you want me to keep calling you Himiko-bastard?”

He receives a scowl in return, paired with the kind of glare he’s pretty sure is meant to bore holes into his skull. Vaguely, though, somewhere in the back of his mind, he registers someone calling out the name Tobio, which definitely must be a coincidence this time, unlike Himiko-bastard’s apparent ability to be everywhere Naruto doesn’t want him to be, but that train of thought is quickly lost when a nudge to his back shoves him face forward.

Straight into Himiko-bastard’s lap.

His first instinct is to keep from falling, so it makes perfectly good sense that his hands reach for Himiko-bastard’s legs, keep him steady when they slide to down to rest on Himiko-bastard’s knees, and slowly, _slowly_ , he raises his head.

Himiko-bastard’s whole body just freezes, then his face starts to get red. Really red. Like seriously, really red. Almost as red as his mom’s hair, Naruto absently thinks, pushing himself up a little closer to stare into wide, impossibly dark eyes.

“Your eyes are really dark, you know that,” he says, “I mean really, really—”

“Y-you _idiot_ —stop worrying about my eyes and get off me!”

It takes another moment for the delayed reaction to finally bring reality crashing back in, one or two seconds to remind Naruto exactly what kind of position he’s in that are instantaneously sped up by the hands sort of digging into his cheek and pressing up against his nose trying to shove him away, except his own hands are still kind of holding on to Himiko-bastard’s knees for dear life so he won’t fall down on the floor.

He holds a breath at the not so small circle of silence from the good number of people around them. Maybe not the entire dining hall, but with those kinds of intent looks, all the not so go kind of attention he’s drawn, it feels like everyone within eyesight is staring at them— _everyone_ —which is when Naruto again remembers where he is but this time realises how close his face was to practically being in Himiko-bastard’s crotch.

Horrified, his eyes grow large. Completely mortified, his mouth opens wide with a shriek that stays silent because he can’t get any sound to come out.

And it really doesn’t help make him feel any better when Suigetsu decides to break the surrounding silence by laughing. The guy just starts laughing and can’t seem to exercise enough self-control to actually stop.

“I—uh...um,” Naruto can’t help his stutter and his shaky hands that still haven’t let go of Himiko-bastard’s knees, because really, if he wasn’t caught in such an embarrassing situation, especially with the palm trying to rearrange his face and the finger that almost pokes his eye out, he definitely would have moved by now, “I didn’t—I _swear_ I wasn’t trying to—” 

“I don’t care, you moron, just get off me—get the hell off me!”

His saviour is an unexpected hand seizing him from behind by his grey jacket, and he jumps, finally letting go of Himiko-bastard when he recognises Kiba’s voice as the strong grip pulls him up from Himiko-bastard’s lap.

“You got to be kidding me, Naruto. I haven’t even known you that long, but leave you alone for ten minutes and this is what I come back to?” Annoyed, Kiba sucks his teeth. He draws out an incredibly long and dramatic sigh, grabbing the back of Naruto’s collar to lead him back to their table. “As much as I like you, I didn’t sign up to be your babysitter, you know.”

Naruto lets himself be dragged away from an absolutely scandalised looking Himiko-bastard who breaks their gaze and picks up his tray to leave with a still loudly laughing Suigetsu. Somewhat numb, he’s not really in a state to put up a struggle, too busy trying to wipe out the image of his face that close to being in Himiko-bastard’s crotch that’s already been burned into his mind.

“Seriously, I mean, if this were a stand-up comedy,” Kiba says, “this is the point where I should be hitting you with a fan. And I’d hit you really hard, too. But why do you always have to make me the straight man in our relationship? What if I want to be the funny man every once in a while, huh? Did you ever stop to think about that?”

Bottom lip trembling, Naruto finally recovers his voice, letting out this really shrill sort of squeak. “But I—and then there was Himiko-bastard’s—my face—”

The longwinded stream of complaints continues to go on as Kiba parts a way for them through the crowd that hasn’t stopped staring, but Naruto’s just kind of shaking, still feeling a little numb, maybe even a little scarred for life at this point.

“So I don’t appreciate that you keep putting me in this position of assumed responsibility, all right,” Kiba says. “I’m only eighteen, but you’re making me feel old, man. Very, very old.”

He pushes down on the shoulders of a compliant Naruto and sits him across from Shikamaru and Chouji. 

“I was right there,” Naruto murmurs, staring at his cup ramen that’s probably cold by now and the chewed up ends of the chopsticks lying on top of each other on the table, “my face was almost _this_ close to being right on top of Himiko-bastard’s—”

“Yeah, yeah, Naruto.” Dropping his head, again, Kiba sighs. He raises pleading eyes to look at Shikamaru and Chouji, pointing a thumb at Naruto. “Why do I get the sinking feeling this kind of thing is going to become routine with him?”

“Let it run its course, huh?” Chouji says with a glance to Shikamaru, raising both eyebrows at Naruto muttering about _a trying-to-be-innocent tomato-faced Himiko-bastard_ , _evil undying cicadas that won’t stay dead_ , and _rokurokubi in disguise attempting to lure him into their demonic crotches so they can drain his blood at night_. “...yeah, I’m just going to say your roommate’s a lot weirder than you first told me to expect.”

Shaking his head, Shikamaru snorts, reaching for a handful of hot and spicy shrimp flavoured chips from the large bag placed between his tray and Chouji’s. “Still not the worst you’ve seen, though, right?”

“Nope.” Chouji picks up the bag still half full and offers it to Kiba. “Want some?”


	15. Be There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Didn’t know you had a thing for soap.” ___

Slowly, the front door begins to open, prolonged with a low creak that resonates throughout the small apartment, compelling bleary eyes open in a dark room, and groggy, Sasuke begins to wake.

He blinks at the dim light from the sitting room tapering a line leading into the hallway. Closing his eyes, vaguely, he picks up on a low patter of footsteps. There’s a soft thud of something heavy hitting the floor, followed by another quick shuffle of steps that comes to an abrupt stop.

Bright light spills into the room, poorly filtered through his eyelids, and he groans, turns in the bed away from the light and towards the wall with his cheek smushed against his forearm resting on top of a pillow.

Another door opens then closes. Not too long after, he can hear the sound of running water from the bathroom across the hall. There’s a sharp clanging noise trailed by a stream of muffled curses, but Sasuke just curls his fingers around the blanket in his grip, gradually nodding off.

The bed suddenly dips beneath an added weight, and Sasuke stills, startled eyes met with the dark. An arm wraps around him from behind, and he relaxes, closes his eyes with a slow exhale at the warm breath he feels at the nape of his neck.

“Sasuke...”

With a grunt, Sasuke leans into the chest pressed against his back. “...I was trying to sleep.”

“Sorry,” Naruto murmurs into his shoulder. “For waking you up, that is. Didn’t mean to come home so late. Go back to sleep.”

“...it’s fine.”

Naruto’s chest rises with a steady inhale. “You don’t smell like that new ink you bought anymore,” he says softly. “You smell nice. Like soap.”

“Didn’t know you had a thing for soap.”

“I have a thing for you.”

Sasuke hums when Naruto starts to shift against him, making room for the knee trying to fit its way between his legs. “Comfortable?”

Naruto nods against his shoulder. “Now I am.”

Sasuke snorts. “Throwing yourself all over me like this, you’re shameless.”

“Just think of me as a blanket.”

“A blanket?”

“Well, a human blanket at least. So if you’re my human pillow, I’ll be your human blanket.”

“I’m pretty sure my regular blanket doesn’t have a habit of poking me in the back with his erection in the morning.”

The sheets rustle when Naruto lifts his head from Sasuke’s shoulder. “It better not.”

With another snort, Sasuke pinches the back of Naruto’s hand, ignoring the exaggerated hiss of pain that follows.

“I can’t believe you’re still so mean to me, Sasuke,” Naruto mutters into his skin, not bothering to hide the petulance coming through his words. “You know I wasn’t being serious.”

“You idiot,” Sasuke whispers, soft and nearly lost through a yawn displacing a tiny smile the slightest upturn at the corner of his mouth. His fingers curl around Naruto’s wrist, pulling tighter around him Naruto’s arm he holds close to his chest as his voice begins to drift away. “...go to sleep.”


	16. Lead Me to the Space Beside You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“The way you’re behaving, you’d think I was actually trying to kill you.”_

“Come here, Naruto.”

“...I don’t know, Sasuke. You don’t look sane right now.”

“Come. Here.”

“Look, I don’t want to die so young. There’re too many things out there I still haven’t seen. So much I still haven’t had the chance to do in this world. So much I still haven’t had a chance to do with you. To you.”

“ _Naruto_.”

Cautious, Naruto leaves the relative safety of the large bathroom and stands in front of the threshold.

“So...” Straightening his shoulders, he takes a deep breath, chest slow to rise and fall. “How do I look?”

“You look...” Almost transfixed, Sasuke stares for a few seconds, quiet, with an abnormally stiff set to his shoulders. “Fine. You look...fine.”

“All that torture you put me through,” Naruto mutters, grudgingly walking towards Sasuke, “I was expecting something a little more than just—”

He yelps when Sasuke grabs both ends of the loose light grey tie haphazardly thrown around his neck to pull him forward. “Did you really need to do that?”

“Yes.” Releasing the tie, in one swift motion, Sasuke lifts the collar of Naruto’s white dress shirt. “Now don’t move.”

“I’m never letting you convince me to wear a tie again.”

“And I’m never letting you convince me you’re responsible enough to dress yourself for this kind of occasion—hold still.” Placing a firm hand on Naruto’s shoulder to make him face forward, Sasuke scoffs. “The way you’re behaving, you’d think I was actually trying to kill you.”

“Keep pulling that thing around my neck like that, yeah, you might as well be.”

Sasuke pauses. His fingers fall away to let go of Naruto’s tie still left undone, and he lowers his gaze, stares at Naruto’s black dress shoes shiny and brand new standing so close to his own. “...there’s still time to look up the train schedule, if you want to go back home.”

“Mm, I don’t know.” Naruto tilts his head back with a sigh, looking for absent cracks on the plain off-white ceiling above them. “I kind of liked taking a plane for once. As much as my parents used to travel out of the country, they didn’t take me with them much. Besides,” he says, trying to catch the gaze of dark eyes obscured by the hair fallen over Sasuke’s face, “your aunt already paid for our tickets, so...”

Once more, Sasuke reaches for the loose ends of Naruto’s tie, giving them a gentle tug. “It’s not her fault you’re so hopeless with this kind of thing.”

“Then staying here, I guess it really can’t be helped.”

“Not with you.”

“...your hands are shaking.”

“No, they’re not.”

Taking one of Sasuke’s hands in his own, Naruto intertwines their fingers. He smiles a little, soft, with a simple laugh short-lived and unassuming. “Okay, they’re not shaking.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“I didn’t say you were nervous.”

“I’m not,” Sasuke says, finally raising his head. The corner of his mouth rises just a little, but he presses his lips together, looks down again and then back up, makes another attempt at a smile that comes out a little too strained. “I just...”

The way Sasuke won’t stop looking at him, holding him still under the scrutiny of such credulous eyes, Naruto has to fight the urge to fidget. “It’s been almost three years.”

Sasuke hums, squeezing Naruto’s hand in his before letting go. “Almost three years since I’ve seen them, since I left Yamaguchi, but I...now I’m suddenly subjecting my entire family to someone like _you_ , and I—”

The chaste touch of lips is brief against the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, and Naruto pulls away before Sasuke can blink.

“Normally,” he says, “I’d have a better comeback against that kind of—”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“I would too,” Naruto says, barely able to contain the whine creeping into his voice. “And a really good one if you ever stopped insulting me long enough to actually give me a chance to come up with something.”

Sasuke makes a noncommittal noise that almost turns into a smile as he again reaches for the ends of Naruto’s tie, crossing the wide part of the tie over the narrow end.

Keeping his head held high, Naruto inhales as Sasuke begins to tie a complicated knot. “...you know I like you,” he says, voice firm growing low and softer. “I really like you, Sasuke, and I know you know that. So why would I want to go back to Narita when I came all the way to Yamaguchi just to be with you?”

Still for only a moment, Sasuke brings the wide end of the tie through a loop for a third time and pulls it to the front. He tightens the knot, both hands adjusting the tie to lie centred over Naruto’s shirt. “...it took us less than two hours to get here.”

“You really do know how to ruin a moment, don’t you?”

“What moment?” Sasuke says, straightening the collar over Naruto’s tie.

“Seriously, though, I didn’t fly eight hundred kilometres for Itachi to treat me to fugu in Shimonoseki.”

“...tell me he didn’t say that.”

“He did. When I was on the phone with him this morning. Actually, he called it fuku. And then I had to ask him what he was talking about.”

With a sigh, Sasuke’s cheeks inflate, and he drops his head on Naruto’s shoulder. “He wasn’t being serious.”

“Using such an outdated word and making that kind of serious invitation to eat food that has the potential to kill me—no, it sounded like a threat to me.”

“My brother wouldn’t threaten you, Naruto. He likes you. He’s just...that’s just his sense of humour. Skewed.”

“If you say so, sure, but as indifferent as you like to pretend you are, it’s even harder to tell with someone like your brother. He did say you’d probably react like this, though. Something about you looking like a pufferfish?”

Head raised in one sharp motion, Sasuke levels Naruto with a steadfast glare.

Naruto snorts, lips tight in a firm line and starting to tremble. Slowly, _cautiously_ , he lifts a finger to poke one of Sasuke’s slightly puffed cheeks, instantly making both of them deflate.

And then the dam breaks.

“I c-can’t believe,” he tries to say, words lost between overtly obnoxious guffaws of laughter. “I actually thought Itachi was lying, but it—it’s just like he said. You do. Y-you really do kind of look like a—”

Sasuke yanks on Naruto’s tie, pulling Naruto against him to whisper in his ear, “Guess what I won’t be using these cheeks to do any time soon.”

All traces of humour gone, Naruto sputters when Sasuke releases the tie and pushes him away. “W-wait, Sasuke, I was joking— _joking_. It was a joke, but I didn’t really think it was that funny. Listening to Itachi, I was just trying to do the right thing by being a good brother-in-law in order to impress my future family. Come on, you can’t threaten me by withholding doing that sort of thing. Not when I—”

“Naruto.”

“...yeah?”

“Shut up.”


	17. Just as Long as You Stand by Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Nah, we’re different. You and me, it’s like…it’s like we’re ramen and kamaboko.”_

A little over three hours later, when the credits from the third episode of Sign begin to appear on the screen of Naruto’s generously sized JVC TV that isn’t really that generous in size ( _Hey,_ _at least it’s HD_ , Naruto likes to say whenever he gets unusually defensive about the thing, particularly around Kiba, who’s made a pastime out of teasing him for shits and giggles, _you_ _don’t get to complain about something I let your ungrateful ass use entirely too much, especially since you don’t even have a TV that works_ ), Sasuke tips his head back to peer at Naruto.

Teeth drawn over his bottom lip to bite back a burgeoning smile, Naruto looks down at Sasuke leaning against his side. “Don’t look at me like that.”

A once simple expectant look becomes knowingly shrewd.

“Pompous bastard,” Naruto grumbles. “I gave it a chance like you told me to. And okay, maybe I kind of...” He clears his throat, glancing at the TV screen now showing the main menu. “I kind of...”

“You liked it.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Naruto retorts, absently reaching for the remote. He presses a button to eject the DVD.

“For something that wasn’t so bad, I wouldn’t think it’d be worth being so heavily involved to the point of screeching at the screen.”

“You take that back, Sasuke—I do not screech.”

Sasuke gives him another look.

“And so what if I got a little involved? I admitted it wasn’t that bad, didn’t I?” With his shoulder, Naruto nudges Sasuke off his side. Standing, he walks the short distance to the DVD player. He takes out the ejected disc, holding it with a finger inserted into the hole in the centre of the plastic ring.

From the open Sign box set lying on top of the DVD player, he picks up the second disc with his free hand and places it in the tray, closing the tray with a light tap.

The other disc still around his finger, he takes grabs the box set and returns to oversized beanbag chair Sasuke’s almost completely sunken into.

“Okay, I get that you really like my comfy chair,” he says. “I mean, I really like it, too. Believe me. But you can’t keep hogging it to yourself all the time. Because, you know... it’s still my chair.”

He pokes Sasuke’s calf draped over the edge of the dark grey cushion with his foot. “Now scoot over.”

Sasuke snorts, but he moves over anyway, making just enough room for Naruto to plop down beside him. “It’s almost ten.”

“And?”

“Sign must really not be so bad if you’re in such a hurry to finish the rest of it.”

“Lay off on that already. If you want to hear me say I liked it, then it was really good, all right.” Naruto laughs when Sasuke grabs the box set from his hand. “Even if I had to be bothered to read subtitles.”

He grins as he waves the disc still held by his finger, grins an almost too friendly kind of easygoing grin that makes Sasuke hesitant for barely even the slightest moment, just long enough to pause his fingers poised over the edges of the disc. Yet the moment only lasts for a second or two, far too fleeting for someone like Naruto to notice, and Sasuke purses his lips, slipping the disc off Naruto’s finger to place it back in the box set.

“Just be grateful I didn’t put the subtitles in English.”

“Like that’s supposed to mean anything when it only has Japanese subtitles. But at least it wasn’t another one of those sword dramas you usually like to watch.”

Setting the box set on the floor, Sasuke purposely bumps his knee against Naruto’s leg. “They’re not all period dramas.”

“Of course not,” Naruto says, pressing play on the remote. He bumps Sasuke back with an errant heel against Sasuke’s ankle. “I still say you watch too much of them, though.”

Sasuke allows himself to sink further into the plush cushion of the beanbag chair, inadvertently brought closer to Naruto’s side. “The next time I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.”

“Cute, Sasuke,” Naruto deadpans. “That’s real cute.”

“If I cared enough to listen to you, I actually would.” 

Folding his arms behind his head, Naruto snorts. “What’s the deal with you and watching all these Korean dramas anyway?”

“Suigetsu said I’d like them, so...”

“Mm, if he’s so into them, I guess that makes some kind of sense.”

“Karin likes them, too. She keeps up with the more recent ones. But putting so much effort into that kind of hobby, it’s really something between the two of them. They just like to drag me into it.”

“The three of you are very…weird.”

“And you’re very...simple-minded.”

Naruto sucks his teeth. “I thought we already got past this point.”

“What point?”

“The whole you-being-mean-to-me-for-the-sake-of-being-mean-to-me point. That one.”

“For the mere fact that I even know you, no. We’ll never be able to get past that point.”

“Asshole,” Naruto mutters. He rubs the bottom of his palm along his right thigh. “You really do enjoy doing this to me, don’t you?”

“Saying the truth?”

“Weird and unnecessarily mean. What type of inviting personality is that supposed to be?”

Sasuke lifts his head from Naruto’s shoulder, peering at him with eyes not fully open that begin to close. “...you tell me.”

“And to think I’m the one who wanted to be friends with you.”

Shifting away from Naruto, Sasuke gives a soft hum, cheek pressed against the pliable cushion of the chair.

Although he knows not to take that kind of banter from Naruto seriously, he’ll admit he does wonder about their relationship sometimes, about what brought them together and, maybe even more importantly, what it is about them that actually works apart from Naruto’s sheer persistence that outright refuses to let them be anything less than friends.

Being so reserved in nature, he knows he’s not the most approachable person, and beyond the occasional call for polite conversation, he also knows he’s not the easiest person to get close to, if only because he’s developed what’s become an instinctive practice of keeping most people at arm’s length.

When he was younger, his mom used to say he was simply shy, although she’d hesitate to discourage his insistence on spending more time with his family rather than meeting new people. His dad didn’t have much of an opinion, or at least one that wasn’t already entangled with some kind of offhand comparison to Itachi, however unintentional Sasuke later realised it was, but his brother...

_You shouldn’t be so quick to emotionally detach yourself from everyone you meet_ , his brother once told him, during the year a seventeen year old Itachi decided to move out of the house and the only thing Sasuke’s eleven year old self could register was the fact that his brother was leaving him, _giving someone else the opportunity to know you, perhaps you wouldn’t mind it as much as you’d like to think_.

And because Itachi’s advice means as much to him now as it did then, Sasuke took it.

He still doesn’t have too many friends, though. A handful from Yamaguchi he likes to keep in touch with mixed alongside the few he’s made since coming to Tama. Although honestly, he can’t say it bothers him. The friends he does have are the people he’s comfortable with, the people he’s allowed himself to become close to and to the extent where he feels he can consider them almost like family.

Yet with Naruto, someone who went from being this loud and overbearing annoyingly obstinate stranger to being his loud and overbearing annoyingly obstinate friend, somehow, in allowing himself to become close to Naruto, Naruto became...different.

He wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a bad different, but compared to his relationships with his other friends, there’s still enough of a difference that it does give him pause from time to time.

It crept upon him. This apparent ease between them that he rarely gives a second thought, even while they’re sharing the beanbag chair Naruto doesn’t like to share with anyone else, as comfortable as he is right now, it’s still a little unnerving when it suddenly dawns on him the normality of their closeness that just _is_.

And despite all those instances of Sasuke unconsciously trying to distance himself, all those things he sometimes says and does without meaning to, Naruto’s still there— _right_ _here_ —finding his way through a maze of castles Sasuke only learned how to build from sand with such a stupidly simple smile and this crazy ability to see too many things Sasuke doesn’t want to let show.

But that’s just who Naruto is.

That’s just what he does.

Because Naruto will always be _Naruto_ , and the more Sasuke tries to push him away, if anything, the more determined he proves to be, yet there’s a niggling awareness that comes with being the focus of that kind of resolve. There’s this vague sense of trepidation that’s recently begun to fester in the back of his mind laying emphasis on the possibility of one day pushing Naruto too far and ultimately driving him away.

The idea of losing a significant part of his life that Naruto’s become, the idea of losing someone he’s allowed himself to grow so close to in such a short amount of time, the amount of thought he’s managed to put into something like this so quickly urging an almost impulsive desire to ensure there won’t be a day when Naruto’s no longer his friend, Sasuke doesn’t know what to do with any of it.

...and it scares him.

“You’re not going to make me watch this by myself, are you?”

The words are a whisper low still too loud too close to his ear, and Sasuke forces his eyes open, startled when he realises his head’s resting on Naruto’s shoulder again. “...I’m awake.”

“The episode’s almost over now.”

Removing himself from Naruto’s side, Sasuke makes a not so subtle shift away from Naruto, creating a more allowable distance between them. It isn’t much, but at least it’s something. “I’m awake, I said.”

“If you’re going to fall asleep, you can lean on me, you know,” Naruto says, raising a hand to ruffle his hair. “It’s not like you haven’t done that kind of thing before.”

Tight-lipped, maybe coming off a little more severe than he intended, Sasuke looks away and stares down at the box set lying on the floor.

Falling asleep on Naruto, it isn’t something he can readily deny. He’s done it a number of times seemingly on the verge of becoming too many to count, but the fact that Naruto can be so casual about such a thing, this agreeable pattern they’ve managed to slip into over the past couple months, it only serves to further augment Sasuke’s apprehension.

“I should go,” he says, stands and then stills when Naruto makes a hasty reach for his arm.

“Why?”

“You said it yourself. I’m falling asleep on you. I don’t want to—”

“You know it doesn’t bother me, right? Leaning on me, when you—when you do that, it’s okay.” Squeezing Sasuke’s arm twice, Naruto gives him this small, almost tentative smile. “Really.”

With a sigh, Sasuke begins to lean back and allows Naruto to pull him the rest of the way down. He lands on the extremely comfortable chair with a soft thump from the excess air in the cushion being displaced by his weight.

A silence not wholly uncomfortable settles between them as the voices from the drama they’re supposed to be watching return to the foreground. However, only a few minutes pass before the end of the episode. The credits appear on the screen that then fades to black. It isn’t until the opening sequence for the next episode begins, though, when Naruto releases his arm to pick up the remote, that Sasuke realises Naruto had been holding it the entire time.

The screen freezes with a press of a button. Naruto turns to look at him. He stares at him with a gaze almost uncomfortably discerning that lingers a little too long until his expression begins to relax and he finally decides to speak.

“...you know, I was thinking,” he says, “we should start doing this more often.”

“Doing what?”

“This.” Naruto grins, gesturing with a hand at TV and then motioning between himself and Sasuke. “Drama night.”

“Drama night?”

“Either your place or mine, but the two of us catching up on your dramas every Friday night...yeah—why not? It isn’t like you let me watch what I want to watch anyway. Never mind if it’s on my TV.”

“There’s no accounting for your questionable taste.”

“Heh. Says a ridiculously picky guy like you.”

Sasuke snorts. “I thought I was weird for watching these dramas?”

Naruto nods, making a soft noise in agreement. “You still are, but I just want to see what it is about them you like so much. It’s unexpected for someone like you to be interested in this kind of thing. I mean, I invited you over here, right, so you know it’s not that I mind watching them with you or anything like that. Besides, it’s not your fault Suigetsu and Karin made you weird.”

“And you don’t think being around you doesn’t make me weird?”

“Nah, we’re different. You and me, it’s like…it’s like we’re ramen and kamaboko.”

“Fishcake.” Turning his body towards Naruto, Sasuke just stares. “You’re comparing me to fishcake.”

“No, I’m saying you’re the pork ramen to my narutomaki.”

Sasuke continues to stare, flicking a few strands of hair away from his face. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“It doesn’t have to. As long as it still tastes good, right? Oh—oh, and sometimes with those fermented bamboo shoots, too. ”

Sasuke sighs. Beneath his head, he raises an arm to rest his cheek against. “You’re impossible.”

“What?” Naruto squints at him, bottom lip slightly protruding. “Ramen topped with naruto and menma, that kind of combination, it really is good.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”

“Oh. Well. I mean, as long as you know it’s good, too.” Naruto smiles, rubbing a finger along the area below his nose and above his upper lip. “Because it is. Even better than the instant beef ramen you can only find in Mobara I told you about before.”

“That good?”

“...yeah,” Naruto whispers, leaning just a little closer, his eyes just a little softer, and his voice grows almost too low for Sasuke to hear, “definitely the bes—”

He jumps back at the sound of the knob being turned, and the door opens to reveal Shikamaru on the other side.

“S-shikamaru,” he says quickly, scrambling to stand as if he’s been caught doing something wrong, although Sasuke can’t figure out the reason for the sudden change in behaviour. “Back so soon?”

“With how late it is, your definition of soon is considerably off.” In one hand, Shikamaru lugs a six-pack of Kirin Lager. His other hand holds a small plastic bag similar to the ones used at the convenience store across the street around the corner.

He pauses when he takes notice of Sasuke lounging on the chair. “Careful, Sasuke. I may actually start to think you live here.”

Sasuke hums, extending his limbs to take up the space vacated by Naruto and left comfortably warm. “You’ll be the first to know when I finally decide to move in.”

“Don’t joke about that kind of thing,” Naruto says, but he’s grinning again, and Sasuke allows his body to lie completely lax against the cushion. “And don’t look so comfortable in my chair.”

“You shouldn’t have moved.”

Shikamaru looks between the two of them, yet his gaze doesn’t remain on Sasuke long before turning back to Naruto. “Constantly seeing you in this kind of state, Naruto, how incorrigible.”

Sasuke gives Naruto a curious glance that Naruto tries to dismiss with a nervous smile obviously forced.

“Shush.” With a glare far from convincing thrown Shikamaru’s way, Naruto makes a quick shooing motion with his hand. “Now go away, you bad little man. Go away.”

“I live here.”

“What’d Kiba tell you about being technical like that?”

Shikamaru snorts but heads towards the small kitchen area near the back of the apartment. “Leave the door open for him, would you,” he calls out.

On cue, Kiba enters through the threshold, carrying another case of beer and a black backpack hanging by its strap from over his shoulder. He takes off his shoes by scuffing the heels against the floor and leaves them stacked slapdash at the foot of the entryway. “Oi, Naruto. Let me borrow your TV again tonight.”

“Che. Why should I even—”

“Ah, Sasuke,” Kiba says, eyes slightly wide in surprise, “I didn’t know you were going to be here, too.”

Sasuke grunts with a slight nod.

Sock-clad feet take Kiba across the room, towards the narrow wooden stand sitting Naruto’s TV, and he sets his backpack on the floor beside it. The expression worn on his face is almost painfully bright, maybe even a little furtive as he looks down at Sasuke. “Now don’t you look like you just woke up?”

Naruto moves to close the door Kiba left open. The lock turns with an audible click while Naruto sends Kiba a glare from over his shoulder. “Don’t even start, Kiba.”

“Lighten up, Naruto. Who says I’m trying to start anything?” As Kiba turns his gaze from Naruto to Sasuke, if possible, the already broad grin across his face stretches even further. “Long time no see, huh?”

“No.” Sasuke sits up in the beanbag chair, folding his legs and letting one arm fall over his lap. Back slightly hunched, he rests his face against his hand held up by the elbow of his other arm propped on his knee. “It’s Friday. I just saw you Wednesday.”

“With that kind of attitude, if I didn’t know any better, I’d actually start to think you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

“Unfortunately, we share a class. I have no choice but to see you.”

Kiba chuckles as Shikamaru forcibly relieves him of the case of beer in his hand and deposits it on the small square table right next to Sasuke. “Why so finicky with me all of a sudden? You never seem to have a problem with Na—”

“Natto,” Naruto cuts in loudly. Too loudly. His cheeks tinge red at the absolute silence following the sudden attention drawn to him from everyone else in the room. “Ah...hehe, natto. It’s so...so—who really likes natto anymore, eh?”

Kiba and Shikamaru simply continue to stare, but it’s Sasuke who decides to answer.

“You know I do.”

Naruto lets out a nearly indistinct squeak. “I mean, I—not that there’s anything wrong with liking natto, because a lot of people like…natto, and I know you know that I know you do, so, um…yeah. Natto...”

“I’ll leave this one in your very capable hands,” Shikamaru says, not the least sardonic. Tearing open the packaged beer along the perforated line, he reaches inside for a can and pops the tab. “Since you claimed I had no business in it.”

“This is sad, Naruto. Truly sad,” Kiba says. “Even for someone like you, I don’t think it can get much more pathetic than this.”

Both arms lying over his lap, Sasuke watches Naruto, eyes slightly narrowed. “Why are you acting so weird, Naruto?”

“I’m not weird.” Naruto sends a quick glare to Shikamaru and Kiba then turns back to Sasuke. He scoffs with an accusatory stare. “If anything, you’re the one being weird. Who in their right mind forces other people to watch as much of those Korean dramas as you do?”

“You said you didn’t mind watching them with me,” Sasuke says, eyebrows knitted together. “I thought that’s why you invited me over here.”

Shikamaru pulls close to the TV the ostentatiously bright orange office chair from Naruto’s desk placed against the wall. However, a snort comes through as soon as he takes a seat, all but failing to keep at bay poorly suppressed laughter before taking another swig of his beer.

Kiba doesn’t even make the attempt. An arm lying on his stomach and a hand covering his face, he nearly doubles over howling. “C-classic, man. This is pure _gold_.” He extends his arm he haphazardly waves in Naruto’s direction. “You seriously couldn’t make up this kind of shit even if you tried.” 

“I…Sasuke, I didn’t—that’s not what I was trying to—”

“Do you—do you,” Kiba stammers, barely able to manage a few words through his obnoxious bouts of laughter, “d-do you need for us to leave, Naruto, to give you a l-little more time?” 

Ridiculously flushed from his ears to his neck, Naruto does an about-face towards Kiba, voice low a strained whisper as he grips Kiba’s shoulder before giving him a hard shove. “Shutupshutupshutup— _shut up_.”

Unfolding his legs, Sasuke stands. He sort of frowns but then settles on giving Naruto a strange look. The sudden awkward tension in this atmosphere, obviously, there’s some kind of inside joke going on he’s not a part of. With the way those three are behaving, though, he’s not entirely sure he’d even want to know if given the chance.

And Naruto claimed his relationship with Suigetsu and Karin was weird.

“Sasuke, where’re you going?” Naruto leaves Kiba’s side as soon as Sasuke bends over to pick up the Sign DVD box set.

“Leaving,” Sasuke says, leaning down to place the box set next to the opened case of beer on the table. He stands upright to face Naruto with an expectant look that becomes more or less an impatient one when Naruto’s distracted staring at him makes it apparent something else has Naruto’s full attention. “I’ll just see myself out.”

Naruto blinks when Sasuke starts to move around him. “You don’t have to—”

“I should be going anyway.”

“Wait, I—” Naruto reaches for Sasuke with a hand that falls just short of touching his shoulder. “I—I’ll come with you then,” he rushes out.

Sasuke stops to turn back around. “Why?”

“Going to walk with Sasuke back to his place, Naruto,” Kiba says, unable to hold back a series of giggling snorts, “how come you never offered to do that for me?”

“So help me, Kiba, I will walk your far too giggly ass straight out that window if you don’t shut it—you live right down the hall.”

Unloading a white game console from his backpack, Kiba just grins as he sets it on the floor.

Groaning, Naruto rubs the heel of his palm against his forehead. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a date with that C-cup girl you kept talking about yesterday?”

“Michiko, you mean.” Kiba’s ears perk. “No, she’s a D-cup. _At least_. But that’s not until tomorrow night. Getting the chance to go out with such a really cute girl, though,” he says, wriggling his eyebrows with a lewd grin, “I might even get her to come to a couples hotel with me. I found a good one with a cheap rate that has a Hello Kitty S&M room, because Michiko told me about this one time when she tried—”

An empty can of beer hits him in the head, and Kiba cries out in pain, nursing the sore spot above his ear. “The hell was that for, Shikamaru?”

Picking up the remote lying on the floor, Shikamaru shrugs.

Sasuke scoffs. “Like anyone really wanted you to finish.”

“Don’t be so open about that sort of thing,” Naruto says, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. “Why are you even here anyway?”

“Oh. Right. Why I came over.” From his backpack, Kiba pulls out an Xbox 360 game case reading the title Battlefield 3. He holds it up with an excessive flourish. “ _This_.”

“No shit.” Earlier embarrassment forgotten, Naruto goes a little starry-eyed. He reaches down and snatches the game from Kiba with both hands. Still a little awed, his thumb absently rubs at the upper right corner of the case. “You got BF3? I thought this wasn’t supposed to come out in Japan for another week?”

“Just snagged it off Shino.”

“Lucky...”

“I know. That guy, I don’t know how he gets his hands on this stuff, don’t really care, either. Best. Roommate. Ever. You in?”

“Since you’re already here,” Naruto says, wry with a sort of half-grin as he throws the game to Kiba, “I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Yosh. What about you, Sasuke?”

“I’m heading out. Some other time maybe.”

“You sure?” Kiba says. “Promise I won’t kick your ass this time. I’ll even go easy on you.”

Rolling forward in his chair, Shikamaru digs in Kiba’s bag for a controller. “Last time I checked, it usually happens the other way around.”

“Technicalities, man. What’d I already tell you about bringing that kind of thing into conversations where they don’t belong?” Not waiting for a response, Kiba turns back to Sasuke. “As long as you’re on my team, though. You have to be on my team. Because I like to win.”

Sasuke declines again with a small shake of his head, thumbs retreating into the front pockets of his dark jeans. “I like to win, too. So even if I stayed to play, I sure as hell wouldn’t be on your team.”

“Okay, that was harsh.” Hands pressing down on his knees, Kiba stands, cracking a grin as he takes a couple of steps towards Sasuke. “So needlessly cold, Sasuke. For such a smartass, you’re lucky you’re not all just talk.”

“Like luck has anything to do with it, Kiba.” Sasuke looks down then back up to Kiba with a small smirk. “Have fun getting your ass kicked by someone who’s not me this time.”

“All right. Put up or shut up.” Kiba spreads his arms out in a grand gesture, still wearing that inane grin. “I can take you anytime. Anywhere. Any—”

“Down, boy.” Rolling his eyes, Naruto pushes Kiba aside, taking his place in front of Sasuke.

Running a hand through his hair, Sasuke snorts. “I’ll see you guys later,” he says, walking towards the entryway with Naruto in tow.

Naruto stands by him as Sasuke slips into his shoes. “Hey...”

“Hmm?”

“You really don’t have to go, you know,” Naruto says, chewing on the left side of his bottom lip. “You can stay. I can even kick Kiba out if you want. He doesn’t live here.”

“I can still hear you, you know,” Kiba calls out, connecting the HDMI cord he plugs into his Xbox to Naruto’s TV.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at Naruto. “And I do?”

“Well, no, but I—” Naruto frowns, the lines on his forehead becoming more pronounced. “What about our Sign marathon then? I thought we were going to—”

“Next Friday, right. Isn’t that what you said? That’s why I’m leaving it here.” 

“But isn’t it Suigetsu’s, though? Wouldn’t he...”

“Suigetsu won’t mind. He owes me.”

“A lot of people do, it seems.”

Sasuke laughs a little. “Just keep it, Naruto.”

“You sure you don’t want to—”

“I’m tired, and it’s already late enough as it is. Besides, I need to get an early start on a new oil painting for my portfolio.”

“That sketch of the bridge you’re working on?”

Sasuke nods. “Yeah. So call me later tomorrow.”

“Oh, well, um…okay.” Naruto gives a soft kind of hesitant smile, obviously reluctant to agree. “Just remember to answer your phone, all right. Then we can have lunch, so you won’t get bored.”

There’s a snicker from Kiba that’s immediately silenced with a rude gesture from Naruto, who keeps his gaze focused on Sasuke.

“You mean so you won’t get bored.” Sasuke rolls his eyes, but the sigh he heaves isn’t necessarily out of irritation. “Meet me at B studio around two. I’ll take a break then. We can go to First Kitchen or something.”

Naruto grins, eager and wide. “See? Told you. Ramen and kamaboko.”

Shikamaru pauses to look up from popping the tab of another beer. “Not even going to ask because I don’t even want to know.”

Legs stretched out on the floor, Kiba refrains from making any commentary in favour of reaching an arm across Shikamaru to grab a can from the table. “Hey, don’t drink so quickly without any consideration for the guy who actually bought the beer.”

“Whatever.” Returning Naruto’s grin with a tiny one of his own, Sasuke gives him a light punch on the shoulder. “You’re such a loser. Learn to do things without me sometime.”

Naruto lowers his gaze to his bare toes he wiggles, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He lifts his head to give Sasuke this small, almost uncharacteristically shy sort of smile. “What if I’m not ready to do that just yet?”

“You two,” Kiba says, suddenly beside Naruto with a beer in one hand and an arm draped around Naruto’s shoulders, “you two are the absolute worst. Seriously. Spare me.”

“If you know what’s good for you,” Naruto mutters darkly, “you’ll be quiet, dog-breath.”

Sasuke sends a wary glance to Shikamaru, who doesn’t even bother to hide the fact he’s been listening to his conversation with Naruto just as intently as Kiba.

“Someone please— _please_ —put me out of my misery,” Kiba says. “Matter of fact, put yourself out of your own misery.”

“Kiba...”

“No, how can you not even—” Kiba gives Naruto an overstated look of disbelief he then turns on Sasuke. “Sasuke, you—you really don’t—”

A hand’s slapped over his mouth right before Naruto stomps hard on his foot, almost making him drop his beer, and Kiba lets out this strangled wail of pain intermingling with and eventually drowned out by this unruly laughter at Naruto’s harsh whisper in his ear only shared between the two of them.

“So...” Removing his foot from Kiba’s, as if none of it happened, as if Kiba isn’t still snickering against his hand, Naruto directs his attention back towards Sasuke, smiles at him with this ridiculously wide smile that shouldn’t be humanly possible, obviously overcompensating for his unease stemming from whatever Kiba didn’t say.

Sasuke blinks.

Once. Twice. Two more times in succession, because he almost wants to ask. Whatever caused Naruto to panic, going to such lengths to quiet Kiba, it was more than enough to pique his interest, but a quick glance at Shikamaru makes curbing his curiosity seem the much more sensible option.

Leaned back against the orange chair, propping his feet on top of a large blue storage cube, amused, Shikamaru simply shrugs, the slightest hint of a knowing smile on his face Sasuke doesn’t even want to ask about.

He still can’t believe Naruto had the gall to claim his relationship with Suigetsu and Karin was weird, especially not when Naruto’s relationship with Shikamaru and Kiba could be so...odd.

But they’re Sasuke’s friends, too, almost as close to him as he considers Naruto, incredibly brash idiot that he is, so maybe that kind of thing isn’t to be completely unexpected.

“We’re still on for tomorrow, right, Sasuke?” Naruto tones down his smile, regards him with such an easygoing kind of grin so very familiar, and Sasuke hums to confirm as he opens the door and steps out.

“Bye, Sha-shuke,” Kiba coos, voice no longer stifled after he pulls Naruto’s hand from his mouth. “Don’t forget to—”

Naruto shoves him out of the entryway, practically knocking Kiba to the floor. “You better answer your phone, because I’m going to call you, okay. When you see my number, don’t put me on—”

“Bye, Naruto.” With a snort, reaching for the door, Sasuke closes it before Naruto can stall him any longer.

As soon as he’s in the hallway alone, muffled laughter still loud begins to filter through the door, seemingly growing louder at the sound of Naruto’s voice he does catch.

_“The hell was that stunt you two just pulled? Going on and on saying those kinds of things, you trying to ruin me or something?”_

Both hands retreating back to his pockets, he looks up with a sigh. He blinks at the nondescript light fixture directly above him. It flickers for a second or two then steadies, almost unreasonably bright as it illuminates nearly half the hall. Again, it wavers for a moment, but the light doesn’t go out.

“Like ramen and kamaboko, huh,” he says, soft with an even softer laugh made faint when his lips meet together in a small smile. “...okay.

Lowering his head, with a low hum, he starts to walk away.


	18. Life Goes On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Don’t have to. I already know it’s mine.”_

“...I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this,” Sasuke says, watching Naruto add the finishing touches to the piles of stacked pillows of varying sizes arranged neatly around them. “Where’d you even get so many of these?”

“I know a guy who knows a guy.” Naruto grins. “But don’t worry about it, okay—come on,” he says, lowering Sasuke on their newish used bed bigger than their old ones they traded it in for. “It’ll be fun.”

The hands on his knees push them apart, and Sasuke makes room for Naruto settling between his legs. “Fun.” He snorts, laying his neck on the white lumbar pillow propped close to the headboard of the bed. “Only you would think something like this would be fun.”

“I made us a fort. Out of pillows.” Sasuke’s hair tickling his cheek, Naruto breathes in the faint smell of grapefruit from the conditioner Sasuke likes to use. “A pillow fort.”

“You want to have sex in a pillow fort.”

“Morning sex in a pillow fort,” Naruto corrects.

Sasuke turns his face to the side, sighing at the hand curved around his side. “This is so childish.”

“Having sex is childish?” Head drawn back, Naruto squints down at Sasuke. “What kind of childhood did you have?”

“Purposely saying that kind of thing,” Sasuke murmurs, walking two fingers along Naruto’s bare chest, “don’t be such an idiot.”

Amused, Naruto smiles, laughs with a light tug of his yellow shirt already faded after too many washes and maybe even more wears that Sasuke tends to steal sometimes. His hand slips underneath the soft material, makes Sasuke shiver in the wake of fingers slow touches barely there. It wanders the expanse of smooth skin, charting a path along the curve of Sasuke’s spine leading to the broad band of black boxer briefs.

With a low hum, Sasuke reaches for Naruto’s waist, thumbs dipping beneath the elastic of light grey boxers when he closes his eyes. “Slow today?”

“Not really.” One hand flat on the bed, Naruto shifts up. His other hand pauses beneath Sasuke’s lower back, encouraging Sasuke to lift his hips a little. He hisses when their erections brush. “Just being lazy right now.”

“Same—” Dark eyes open with a jolt, and Sasuke tilts his head back, thumbs digging into Naruto’s skin as he moves to meet another slow thrust. “Same thing.”

Long and deep, Naruto breathes in. He breathes out with a shudder, dropping his head. A sharp roll of his hips presses Sasuke into the bed, and he stills, groans and holds them both there with a grip firm on Sasuke’s side.

“...midterms aren’t for another month.” He starts to grind against Sasuke in small, tight circles, drawing out the motions as long as he can. “But it’s, uh, it’s already been more than a week since we had a chance to do anything close to this, you know.”

“What are you trying to say?”

There’s a sinuous curve to Sasuke’s back that causes his shirt to hike up when he raises his arms to fold above his head, and Naruto helps slide the shirt further along, exposing a flat stomach and pushing the material seized by his hand up to Sasuke’s chest.

“The time we have between work and school, lately, you’ve been using it to study too much.”

“You could stand to study more.”

Naruto makes a low noise in disagreement. His back forms a slight arc as he lowers his head, mouth hovering over the side of Sasuke’s neck. “My grades say different.”

“I’ve seen them.” The bottom of Sasuke’s palm taps Naruto’s shoulder, lightly pushing him away. “You’re delusional if you think they’re anywhere near as high as mine.”

“No, but you already know I get by well enough.” Naruto’s fingers trace along Sasuke’s side to rest below his hip. “And what about that painting class I took last term? I had one of the highest grades.”

“Only because it was an intro class. You can’t paint worth shit.”

“Still brought up my overall grade, didn’t it?”

“Grades mostly based on participation, those kinds of things, they don’t count.”

“Jeeze, you can be such a snob sometimes.” Naruto lets out a chuckle, voice growing low as he places himself over Sasuke, hands planted just below either side of the pillow Sasuke’s lying on. “Does that mean I’m not good enough for you anymore?”

Reaching down between them, Sasuke cups the noticeable bulge in Naruto’s boxers. “When have you known me to turn down _this_?” he says, emphasising with a firm squeeze.

“I bet you’d write property of Uchiha Sasuke on it if you could,” Naruto says, grin wide and unabashed when Sasuke raises an eyebrow. “You actually would, wouldn’t you?”

“Don’t have to. I already know it’s mine.”

“Ha! I knew it. You only like me for my—”

“Tell me, Naruto,” Sasuke breathes, words low and soft framed from the slightest hint of a grin. Long fingers flex around Naruto’s confined erection, forming a loose hold before letting go of the thin cotton material gathered in his hand. A palm bears down hard on the base, and slowly, the tips of his fingers begin to trail along the length of Naruto’s cock, narrowly avoiding the open fly where the head almost slips through. “...are you really complaining?”

Bottom lip caught behind his front teeth, Naruto groans. With a grunt, he bends one elbow on the bed to support his weight, grabbing Sasuke’s wrist with his free hand to still the fingers again wrapping around his bulge.

“Okay, I think you should skip your Lit class,” he says, voice a little strained when Sasuke’s hand starts to move up and down. It’s way too deliberate. “Y-yeah, you should definitely skip it.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s Lit. It’s boring. Who says you really even need to learn so much about Akutagawa?” Naruto grits his teeth, moving against the fingers gradually beginning to add more pressure.

“Actually,” he says, “we should just stay here all day.”

“You’re just horny.”

“So?”

“Don’t you have to leave for Super Camera?”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to, but—”

“You work at a used camera shop. Surrounded by that much photography equipment, being in that kind of environment—”

“I’d rather be in you right now,” Naruto murmurs, quick to push Sasuke’s arm to the side. One deft movement has his body covering Sasuke, and he slips a hand beneath the back of Sasuke’s thigh, kissing along Sasuke’s lower jaw as rushed fingers drag down Sasuke’s leg to rest behind his knee, raising it at his side and bringing Sasuke closer.

“N-Naru—”

“Mm-hmm...” Eyes squeezed shut, Naruto rocks against Sasuke with a short series of shallow thrusts. The bed starts to creak, but it stops, and for a moment Naruto stills. Then he shudders, hisses and lets his head fall, hiding his face above Sasuke’s chest.

Taking Naruto’s chin between a forefinger and thumb, Sasuke raises Naruto’s head, forcing Naruto to look at him.

“What?” Naruto stares back with an annoyed huff. “Are we doing this or not?”

Sasuke says his name again, stern with dark eyes narrowed just as unyielding.

The sun begins to peek through the small window from the other side of the room, and Naruto purses his lips, gaze focused on the thin streams of light flickering across Sasuke’s face.

Sasuke frowns, finally deciding to release his hold on Naruto’s chin. “All the trouble you went through applying for that job, crying and carrying on when you thought you weren’t accepted, you’re suddenly choosing today not to go?”

“First off, I wouldn’t cry over that kind of thing,” Naruto mutters, pointedly looking away. “...and I didn’t say I wasn’t going. Besides, old man Tazuna has me doing inventory all week anyway. Again.”

“You never had a problem being assigned inventory before. There was even a time I couldn’t get you to shut up about it.”

“...I guess I just don’t really feel like doing anything. Maybe it’s just one of those days, you know.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. I think it is,” Naruto says, tries to appease Sasuke with a smile that wavers and doesn’t reach his eyes.

“...what’s wrong with you, Naruto?”

“You keep making it harder for me to keep things to myself.” Naruto laughs beneath his breath, but it almost comes out a low scoff instead. “I guess I’m not allowed to do that with you anymore, huh?”

He’s not really expecting an answer, so it’s no surprise when he doesn’t receive one. Sasuke simply stares, watches him and waits, and Naruto’s barely able to keep from squirming in the silence that seems to stretch too long between them.

After another second or two, he sighs, resting his head against Sasuke’s chest. He lays an arm over Sasuke’s side, finger absently drawing little spirals right above Sasuke’s hip. “...you know those photos I submitted for the winter gallery showing—the ones I was talking about a couple months back?”

“What about them?”

“Yesterday, I, um...I found out none of them got picked, and I—not that it matters much at this point, but I—you like my stuff, don’t you?”

“I let you hang it on the walls,” Sasuke says, almost casually, but the corner of his mouth begins to turn down. “You’ve already met most of the requirements towards your degree. Don’t tell me you want to declare another major.”

“Ch. After almost four years at Tama? Hardly.”

“I can’t afford to put that kind of thing past someone like you,” Sasuke says, running a hand through Naruto’s hair.

Naruto rolls his eyes. “Yeah right.”

“What’d your advisor have to say about it?”

“Iruka?” Naruto tilts his head to peer at Sasuke. “Oh, well, he thinks they’re still good, just probably not what the judges were looking for this year. He said he really liked my approach to using different lighting techniques, though.

“Then he suggested I probably shouldn’t try to fit in so many elements at one time. But taking more obvious risks with that sort of thing, he said it shows a level of maturity unexpected for someone my age.”

“Maturity? From you?”

“Hey, I can be mature when I want to be.” The simple smile on Naruto’s face turns teasing. “Although now that I think about it, maybe I should have just sent in some photos of you.”

Sasuke snorts. “No.”

“Yeah, I’m a little selfish about that kind of thing anyway,” Naruto says, but his smile begins to falter, and he presses his lips together. “It’s just, sometimes—sometimes, I wonder if I’m doing the right thing, if I could ever be something I’ve always wanted to be.

“It’s kind of funny because I, uh, I actually—for my birthday, when I turned four, I remember opening this little plastic blue and yellow toy camera. And I still have it, too. Not that it could ever compare to the cameras I have now, but my parents said I used to love that thing. Carried it everywhere—even tried to take it with me in the bath a few times. I don’t really remember that part, but I...”

With a slow inhale, Naruto starts to relax, leaning into the fingers gently massaging his scalp.

“Ever since then,” he says, “I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. Not just because of my dad, but because photography’s something I love to do. And capturing those moments that are precious to me, I think I’m really good at it.

“But some days it gets hard. Even though I go by my mom’s name, it still feels like I’ll never be able to live up to my dad’s. And being compared to him so much...

“Not to say I don’t look up to him, though. I mean, he’s my dad. Of course I look up to him. And yeah, I know there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be like him. Not to mention, I really like that he’s proud of me, that he’s happy I’m following in his footsteps, but I still want to be my own person, too, you know.”

Sasuke hums, giving Naruto a slight nudge with the inside of his foot sliding against Naruto’s calf. “What happened to the Great Uzumaki Naruto who promised he’d be a world famous photographer because he’d make sure one day everyone would know his name?”

The quiet way Sasuke said his name, the way Sasuke’s looking at him, calm with a subtle shift in his eyes making them soft and warm, Naruto stills. He tries not to fidget, fails, then swallows and lifts his head when the erection that all but went away earlier suddenly starts to come back. “...will you do that again?”

“What?”

“That. What you just said.” Naruto licks his lips, raising himself up on his hands and knees climbing over Sasuke. His voice is a gruff whisper that continues to lower with his face inching closer to Sasuke’s. “Say it again.”

“...say what?”

“...Uzumaki Naruto-sama. Call me Naruto-sa—”

Naruto cries out, recoiling from the not so tender smack of Sasuke’s palm connecting with the back of his head. “You bastard, what was that for?” 

Carefully subdued resigned irritation replaces the look of dark eyes once soft and warm. “Ask me that again and the only thing I’ll be calling you is dumbass.”

“Like you don’t already call me that enough as it is,” Naruto grumbles. He sits up, scratching his head. “I thought you were supposed to be comforting me? How the hell’s hitting me supposed to make me feel better?”

“You’re the one who should be making me feel better about my regretful decision to constantly put up with you.”

“Sasuke...” 

“No, Naruto.”

Naruto leans down, the side of his face brushing across Sasuke’s cheek. “Just this one time.”

“No.”

“Come on, Sasuke, I’ll even call you—”

“I’m not doing any kind of roleplay with you.”

“But it’s not a roleplay. You saying my name like that, it’s this fantasy—”

“And it’s going to stay a fantasy.”

“—I didn’t even know I had until now, with your voice starting off really, really low then getting really, really high while you’re in that one position you really like, you know, when you’re sitting on top of me and holding me down and really, _really_ ridi—

Naruto lets out a sharp hiss at the sting from his bicep, at the nails pinching a ridiculously tiny area of his skin.

“Seriously, Sasuke, we’re in the middle of the beginning of having sex, and you want to get touchy because I mentioned wanting you to do something that you actually happen to like doing?”

“You’re being too eager about it.”

“But knowing you let me be close enough to do this with you, being able to have you here with me like this, that kind of thing can’t be helped.”

Sasuke pulls hard on the lobe of Naruto’s ear, earning another hiss that then somehow mangles with a squawk, and he gives Naruto that look again, with the same kind of resigned irritation this time less subdued that makes him look like he’s mentally pinching the bridge of his nose.

Then he pinches Naruto’s bicep again.

“To go into that much detail so quickly,” he says, after ignoring yet another exaggerated cry of pain from Naruto, “for a fantasy you didn’t even know you had, you’ve put too much thought into it.”

“Honestly, I know you only get like this when you’re embarrassed,” Naruto mutters, slipping an arm beneath Sasuke to lift his hips, “and okay, maybe I can admit it really does kind of turn me on in some weird way, but for once, I just want to survive having sex with you _without_ having to end up being hurt by you.”

“S-stop circumventing.” Sasuke grabs Naruto’s arm, fingers squeezing when Naruto starts to move against him. “Don’t make me go through the hassle of having to kick you off the bed.”

Naruto grins against Sasuke’s neck. “Let’s just see you try to get rid of me.”

“Is that an invitation?”

“Not even if you wanted it to be.” Naruto raises his head, leaning into the warm hands that reach to hold his face, and he breathes in as Sasuke brings him down for a kiss.

Slowly, he begins to pull away, moaning at the loss of the mouth sucking on his bottom lip.

Sasuke watches him with this highly expectant stare, fingers light touches tracing small circles into Naruto’s temples. “Are you still...”

“A little. Right now, though, it’s okay being with you.”

“Just okay?”

“Better,” Naruto says, and he laughs, easier, lighter. “A lot better, all right.” He lets his smile stretch wide across his face. “You’re so damn full of it. Who knows how you still manage to have any room for my—”

The harsh tug on his hair doesn’t keep Naruto from smiling, doesn’t stop him from tightening his arm around Sasuke. “...but I’m okay. Really. Being around you, it’s hard for me not to be.”

Dropping his arms, Sasuke sighs, turning his head to the side. “...such an embarrassing guy.”

“Around you maybe,” Naruto says, laughs again, but he hesitates as the sound quickly begins to fade, “as long as you don’t mi—”

“It’s fine,” Sasuke whispers, facing Naruto with a hand raised to tuck blond strands behind Naruto’s ear. “You’re already such an idiot, too, so it’s fine.”

“An idiot you can’t get enough of.”

Sasuke snorts. “I know better than to expect too much from you anymore.”

“...so doing this,” Naruto says, and his hips start to move with quick, shallow thrusts, “d-do you, uh, still think it’s childish?”

“No, it’s...” Throwing his head back, Sasuke releases a soft gasp, arching into Naruto’s chest with arms that reach around Naruto’s shoulders, bringing Naruto close and trying to hold him closer. “...it’s fine.”


	19. Give Me Got Me Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“What’s there to like about an unbelievably crass guy like you?”_

Removing the thumb caught between his teeth, Sasuke leans back in his chair. Stance wide, he keeps both feet planted on the floor, giving his head a slight tilt to the side and turning one knee further out as he watches Suigetsu amble towards him.

“Come on, Sasuke. You have to give me a better reason than that.” 

“What’s there to like about an unbelievably crass guy like you?” 

Suigetsu parks both hands on the narrow armrests of the chair Sasuke’s slouched on. He bends down with a grin turned marauding by the revelation of far too many teeth. “Tell me you don’t like it.” 

Seizing a handful of Suigetsu’s collar, Sasuke yanks him forward, almost makes Suigetsu lose his balance as strands of white hair fall over his shoulder. “...I don’t.”

Sasuke’s breath is a faint whisper across his cheek, hot across his skin, and Suigetsu shivers.

“But then I don’t have to like you for this kind of thing, do I?” Sasuke releases his grip, thin lips curving into a small smirk that’s more or less this self-satisfied little grin.

“Except you do like me.” The armrests sturdy beneath the brunt of his weight, Suigetsu leans closer to Sasuke’s face. “Makes it more convenient, yeah?”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t that make this situation worse?”

“Why? Because we’re roommates?” Suigetsu says. “We’ve known each other long enough by now. You’re hot. I’m hot. You have needs. I have needs. Being a practical guy, you can appreciate this sort of reasoning. Unless a casual fuck isn’t...”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t agreeable to it.” Two fingers finding their way behind a belt loop, Sasuke tugs Suigetsu between his legs. “You’re not exactly my type, though.”

“Am I close enough?”

“You think it’s a good idea to ask me something like that?”

“Probably not. Just know you’re not my usual type, either. On the other hand, I really can’t say it’d hurt to make you an exception.”

Sasuke snorts, hand reaching for the zipper of light grey jeans. “Been a while for you?”

“Long enough,” Suigetsu admits. He holds in a groan, fingers curved around the back of Sasuke’s neck stealing into dark hair. “You swallow?”

“...not for you,” Sasuke murmurs, words cased with lips lingering right above Suigetsu’s mouth they barely touch.

“Me, neither,” Suigetsu breathes, almost kisses Sasuke but then pulls away abrupt. “So I can still work with that.”

Unclasping the button of Suigetsu’s jeans, Sasuke slips a hand beneath Suigetsu’s shirt, fingers lightly trailing along Suigetsu’s side. “Is this something that’s going to take all day with you? Otherwise...”

“With your personality,” Suigetsu says, low, with a sort of amused snort, “should have known you’d be one of those demanding types with this kind of thing, too.”

“You’re the impetuous guy who had the nerve to make such a sudden proposition. You didn’t even have the decency to wear anything under here,” Sasuke says, slipping fingers behind the front of Suigetsu’s jeans.

Suigetsu sneaks a hand beneath Sasuke’s left leg, running along the back of Sasuke’s upper thigh. “So hard to please...”

With a low hum, Sasuke nips on Suigetsu’s earlobe, releasing Suigetsu’s cock from his jeans. “You’re refusing me?”

“When’d you hear me say no?” 

Sasuke shudders, head dropping over Suigetsu’s shoulder at the fingers pressing hard into his thigh and kneading his skin.

“Sensitive there?”

“Do it again and I’ll let you find out.”

Suigetsu closes his eyes, the side of his face brushing across Sasuke’s cheek. “...y-you always get what you want, yeah?” He moans low at the thumb that carefully begins to rub the wet tip of his cock. 

Chin resting on Suigetsu’s shoulder, Sasuke bites his lower lip, curbing all but a hint of the smallest little grin. “You’ll do.”


	20. The Theory of Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“It’s still a wedding, isn’t it?”_

The air’s a passing breeze that whips across his cheek, a cool prickling against his skin evoking the same strange sense of familiarity that had Sasuke fleeing the Heian ballroom on the second floor and taking refuge in the open-air bath on the roof.

He quickly dismissed himself from his parents, leaving them with some feeble excuse he doesn’t even remember saying, the murmur of his own voice a memory vague unlike the sight of startled blue eyes.

Long strides took him from the banquet hall to the hotel’s stairwell, where he let the heavy door shut behind him. It was slammed open before it had a chance to close, though, nearly hitting the wall with a harsh screech immediately drowned out by the loud echo of _Sasuke_ in the narrow stairwell.

He didn’t stop, passing the exit door leading the fifth floor at the call for him to wait. The pounding of heavy footsteps followed. They clanged off the walls, grew louder and continued to loom closer as he opened the door to the twelfth floor.

To the right of him was the unattended entrance to the rooftop’s outdoor bath. He already knew no one would be there. His aunt practically leased Hotel New Tanaka for the rest of the night, but it wasn’t even eight yet. The majority of his family was probably still downstairs, a hundred or so people floating between the lavish receptions held across separate venues spanning three different floors.

Aside from his parents, there’s a small chance anyone else took notice of him leaving. In that kind of atmosphere, it’s doubtful anyone even gave a second thought to Naruto following him.

Once heavy footsteps become light, tread with an evident restraint that gradually brings Naruto to stand in front of him, and Sasuke sighs when Naruto takes a seat on the uncomfortably small wooden stool beside him.

It’s quiet between them for a while. Underscored by the faint rush of water and rising steam, the silence stretches for a moment or two Sasuke doesn’t care to measure with time. The soft light from the lamps above them illuminate the heated water below, and he stares at the wide end of the bath tapered on one side by large grey stones smooth beneath the soles of his black dress shoes.

The short legs of the stool scrape against the levelled rock as Naruto shifts. “...you know we’re not allowed to wear shoes in this kind of place, right?” he says. “The sign on the door out front said so.”

Folding his arms over his knees, Sasuke leans forward with a low hum. He lays his head on top of his arms, forcing another sigh as he turns to face Naruto.

“As comfortable as these little stools actually aren’t, looking down from up here on the roof, it gives a really nice view of Yamaguchi,” Naruto says. “Sitting with you under the stars like this, it makes the mood feel really roman—”

“Don’t say it.”

Naruto chuckles, rolling up to his elbows the sleeves of his white dress shirt. Hands clasped together, forearms resting on top of his legs, he leans over, catching Sasuke’s gaze. There’s a slight narrowing of his eyes, making Sasuke the focus of a momentary discerning glance, but then Naruto smiles a little, keeping his expression light. “It’s bad enough you like to leave me on my own with your brother, but you weren’t trying to leave me to fend for myself against your parents, were you?” 

The words are almost enough to make Sasuke smile, almost, but he doesn’t reveal a small upturn the corner of his mouth that nearly does come through. “No.”

“...then what I said back there,” Naruto says, voice lowering with the beginning traces of a frown, “you’re not mad at me for that, are you?”

Sasuke purses his lips, swallows and tries to keep steady his voice already on the verge of wavering. “I’m not mad, Naruto. I just...just needed some air.”

“Some air?”

“Yeah.” Sasuke inhales, closing his eyes then opening them again with an exhale. “But introducing yourself to my parents like that, what were you thinking? It’s my aunt’s wedding.”

“It’s still a wedding, isn’t it?”

Slowly, Sasuke sits up, letting his arms fall to lie in his lap. “...what are you saying?”

“Asking your parents to accept me, wanting them to take care of me like a son from now on, what’s so wrong about that?”

Sasuke’s more than well aware his mouth is gaping. He felt the slow movement a gradual parting of his lips that normally precedes something even remotely intelligible coming out, but this time nothing did. Nothing does. There’s no sound at all. Caught in some kind of stupor, stilted, he can only stare.

“You remember what I told you earlier, right,” Naruto says, giving him this small deliberate grin Sasuke knows had the potential to be a shit-eating mess if Naruto wasn’t consciously holding it back, “about being a good brother-in-law?”

“I didn’t think you were being—” Sasuke groans, knocking over his stool while bending knees that straighten as he stands.

Of course, Naruto stands with him, stays right beside him with that same stupid grin still somehow able to make Sasuke’s breath hitch even after all this time. “Get away from me, Naruto.”

“You don’t mean that. Not after letting me follow you all the way up—”

“If I wasn’t so concerned about making a scene on my aunt’s wedding day, I’d kill you.”

“That’s, um, reassuring, I guess?” Naruto says, making another stupid face because he still hasn’t stopped grinning.

“I can’t believe you actually—you’re just so...”

“I’m what?”

“You’re so... _you_.”

Naruto’s eyebrows rise with a confusion obviously feigned, obviously teasing coupled with the grin that simply won’t die. “I’m _me_?” 

Sasuke tries to curb his frustration with his fingers curling into a fist defying the increasingly strong urge to hit Naruto. He closes his eyes instead. “You’re such a...such a—”

“Hey, relax.” Naruto laughs, placing a hand on Sasuke’s forehead that moves to push away the hair fallen over Sasuke’s eyes. “I only wanted to make a good first impression, okay.”

“Naruto...”

“I wasn’t trying to embarrass you.”

“You didn’t embarrass me.”

“If you could only see your fa—”

“I don’t blus—shut up, Naruto.”

The slight weight of Naruto’s forehead resting against his own prompts Sasuke to open his eyes. Sighing, he lets himself sag a little, held rapt beneath the gaze of vivid eyes almost too blue, and he shivers at the warm breath from the lips so close to his. He reaches for Naruto with thumbs absently trailing along the sides of his face, kisses him languid and lush, but he pulls back because he doesn’t want to give Naruto the opportunity to even think about getting carried away.

“I’m sorry,” Naruto murmurs, pressing his lips against the corner of Sasuke’s mouth.

“No, you’re not.”

Naruto makes a low noise in agreement. “Yeah, I’m not sorry.”

Sasuke snorts, pushing away from him with a shove hard enough to make Naruto stumble but not fall, because he’s not going to admit he doesn’t want Naruto to be sorry, either.

Naruto just laughs, though, overtly obnoxious and exceedingly pleased, like he knows what Sasuke’s thinking anyway, as if a simple shove could possibly be enough to convey a gamut of emotions becoming increasingly difficult for Sasuke not to let show around him.

Yet with Naruto, Naruto who already knows him so well, to Naruto, sometimes, even the most trivial thing can be more than enough.

“Come on, Sasuke—wait.”

As Sasuke begins to walk away, arms grab him from behind, pulling his back against Naruto’s chest. The loose hold stops him right in front of the exit, but he doesn’t try to break it. He keeps his gaze ahead, fixed on the large, stylised character reading men printed in white over the wide blue cloth hanging from the open doorway.

Naruto rests his chin on Sasuke’s shoulder, breathing against Sasuke’s neck. “So...” 

“My jacket’s probably wrinkled enough as it is, and you’re making it worse. Let go.”

“Not going to try to run out on me again?” Naruto says, but he doesn’t hesitate to comply, lets out this self-satisfied little sigh, and circles around to stand in front of him wearing a soft kind of smile so ridiculously simple that makes him look so incredibly stupid. 

“I look stupid, huh? That’s what smiling at you gets me?”

Sasuke gives a light hum, reaching again with both hands for Naruto’s face. “It does.”

“Well, since I’m starting to feel kind of cold, would I still be stupid if I said I really wanted to jump in the bath right now?”

“...idiot,” Sasuke breathes, “you shouldn’t have left your jacket at the table.”

“Maybe,” Naruto says, prolonging each syllable, “unless you want to find another way of warming ourselves up out here?”

“Why are you always so—”

“Shh. I think we were almost having a moment.”

Sasuke laughs soft at Naruto’s grin, easing into another kiss quiet and brief.

Leaning closer, Naruto makes a low noise content at the fingers threading through his hair. “Ready to head back inside?”

Sasuke breathes in and breathes out. His hands tug with a light grip gentle on Naruto’s hair. Again, he breathes in then releases a long sigh. “...okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

...

With a quick press of a button, they take the elevator back to the ballroom instead of the stairs. Ten floors of not so subtle teasing provoking Sasuke’s not so subtle, far too specific and carefully thought-out almost not threats to do unmentionable things to certain parts of his body he’d rather not think of, they reach their destination.

It isn’t until the elevator opens, however, that Naruto finally admits that the idea of introducing himself to Sasuke’s parents with the open confession of his feelings about Sasuke was actually inspired by the conversation he had with Itachi this morning—the same conversation from earlier when Itachi offered to treat him to lunch at Shinoda tomorrow for some kind of mini fugu-themed high level cuisine, but Naruto avoids bringing that up again.

He also makes a strategic decision by taking caution in not bringing up the subject of Sasuke’s cheeks, either.

“With your parents,” he says, “your brother said it was best to be less obviously direct.”

Sasuke stills, eyes wide for a moment before he all but flings Naruto though the elevator doors, a hand on Naruto’s arm dragging him towards the other end of the dimly lit hall, far away from the collective noise coming out of the banquet room.

“Taking advice from my brother,” he hisses, “you two talk to each other behind my back?”

Naruto isn’t sure if Sasuke’s going to strangle him or kiss him. He isn’t sure about a lot of things concerning what Sasuke might or might not do, even if Sasuke’s never actually tried to strangle him before. As torn as Sasuke looks between the two, though, really, Naruto would prefer the kissing.

He likes that.

“We talk sometimes. Or actually, we’ve talked a couple times. Not a lot, but enough, I should think.” He spares a thoughtful glance to the ornate light fixture on the wall, distracting himself from the red barely tingeing Sasuke’s slightly puffed cheeks. “Although I’m not sure that he ever gave me a choice about it.”

Sasuke deflates against him, squeezing Naruto’s arm a little too hard. “Naruto...”

“He made me voluntarily give him my number, you know.”

“No one can force you to voluntarily do something. That defeats the purpose of doing something voluntarily.”

“Your brother can be really convincing when he’s being nice.”

Letting go of Naruto’s arm, Sasuke raises his head. “He’s always nice.”

“Which is my point.”

Sasuke gives him a funny look. “You were forced to voluntarily give my brother your number because he’s always nice?”

“Exactly.” 

Sasuke blinks.

“He just has this way of looking at you. Like the first time we met, the way he just kept smiling at me. Your mom did it, too. Earlier, when you told her who I was, she didn’t stop smiling at me.

“I mean, both your parents were really nice to me, formally nice even, but right then, it kind of felt like your mom was staring me down. Really hard. Like that thing you do sometimes, when you get this really cute little smile that makes me think you’re going to kiss me or something but then you just end up causing me pain—yeah, almost like what you’re doing now if you were smiling. Except a whole lot worse. And you’re not a girl.”

Sasuke’s left eye starts to twitch.

“Not that I’m saying you look like your mom or anything. Only, you kind of do. Because she’s your mom. So looking like her, that kind of thing really can’t be helped. Just like I—”

“I should have pushed you off the roof when I had the chance,” Sasuke murmurs, pulling back from a kiss too short-lived. “At least I wouldn’t have to deal with you talking so much.”

“Or you can keep doing that.” Naruto shrugs, but the grin curling his lips starts to turn playful. “I don’t mind. Really.”

Hasty fingers reach to tug on blond strands, again briefly bringing Naruto’s mouth against his, and Sasuke sighs, reluctantly letting his hand fall from Naruto’s hair.

“Still nervous?”

Sasuke gives him this quiet kind of smile, still a little more strained than it normally would be, but at least it’s better than the attempts from earlier. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

Rubbing his hand along Sasuke’s arm, Naruto nods with a low hum. “You should. Being around your whole family, it’s weird that they’re so polite. Not even the expected normal polite but ridiculously polite.”

“What’s wrong with being polite?”

“Nothing. I’m just wondering how come you’re the exception.”

“They don’t know you like I do.”

“Hey—”

“Come on. I don’t want anyone to think we left early without saying anything.”

Naruto jogs a few steps to catch up with Sasuke leading them towards the ballroom. “Because you suddenly have the need to pretend you can be polite.”

“Only when I’m not around you. But since we’re sharing a table with Itachi and—”

“Wait a minute—I thought it was just going to be the two of us? Sitting alone. Together. Without your brother. You know. As in me and you. And not Itachi.”

“Like you didn’t already see the place cards.” Sasuke smiles a little, another hesitant curve to thin lips that almost slips away, and then he starts to laugh, low and soft but noticeably less tense. “You’re not getting cold feet on me, are you?” 

“Me?” Naruto scoffs. “No. Even if Itachi has the home field advantage, at least we’re still sort of in a public setting.”

Smile fading, Sasuke stops, abrupt, right before they reach the double doors held wide open. He lowers his head, face shadowed from the soft light in the room escaping into the dim hall. “When you say things like that, Naruto,” he whispers, nearly lost beneath streams of conversation already loud against the music playing faint in the background, “when you—I don’t...what am I supposed to do?”

Hard, Naruto swallows, but he makes a reach for Sasuke’s hand, giving it a firm squeeze with his fingers laced between Sasuke’s only slightly shaky this time around. “...stay with me?”

...

Although the ballroom’s a little less crowded than it was before, it’s still filled with a considerable number of Sasuke’s family members Naruto doesn’t know. A lot of older people mostly, which probably explains why he’s been on the receiving end of so much formality.

Probably explains the enka music, too. Not that it’s bad. That style of traditional sounding music, he just doesn’t have a preference for it. Sasuke did say his Aunt Kayou used to perform enka when she was younger, though, making small tours around the Chuugoku region with her parents sometime during the late forties and early fifties, when that kind of music started to become popular after the war.

There’s even a rumour still floating around that when she was sixteen, after a concert in Hiroshima, she turned down an offer to sing with Koga Masao, who Sasuke said was a notable guy in the genre, but then Sasuke also said the majority of his family’s no more than a bunch of old-fashioned gossipmongers too caught up in the history of their lineage and far too entertained by even the slightest hint of a scandal.

When Naruto pointed out how that pretty much described Sasuke around anything that had to do with the name Uchiha, Sasuke pinched him.

But with each step further into the spacious ballroom, it’s easy to see how much respect Sasuke has for his family. Heading for their assigned seats all the way on the other side, Sasuke steers them through the gaps between moderately sized round tables and scattered groups of people, pausing to acknowledge the older family members he didn’t get a chance to greet during the wedding. He takes his time, more polite than he usually is every once in a while, using the really formal kind of language Naruto wouldn’t have even known Sasuke knew before the wedding.

Honestly, Naruto’s not that familiar with such a humble form of honorific speech, never having a need to learn more than the standard etiquette everybody already knows in order to get by. He’s quick on his feet, though, following Sasuke’s lead with a polite bow of his head each time Sasuke excuses them to leave, and if he gets this really light feeling in his chest at the fact Sasuke keeps referring to the two of them as _us_ , well, Naruto won’t fault himself for that.

They’re almost halfway there when Sasuke just freezes, almost making Naruto bump into him.

“What?”

Trying too hard not to seem obvious, little by little, Sasuke starts to backtrack, heading towards the corner at the end of the long buffet style table placed against the wall. “Nothing.”

“Uh, tell me if I’m wrong, but isn’t our table the other way?”

“Never mind that. Just keep moving.”

“Why?” Naruto looks around the room, trying to find out what caused Sasuke to turn around. “What’d you see back there?” 

Impatient, Sasuke gives him a light nudge, finger pressing into Naruto’s side. “You’re being too conspicuous. Hurry up before he sees me.”

“Before who sees you?”

“Little cousin,” drones a voice from behind him, and Naruto starts at the sudden appearance of some guy practically breathing down the back of his neck, muttering a curse under the cover of an exhale.

“I’m too old for you to still be calling me that, Sai,” Sasuke says, dropping the formality, resigned with the restrained kind of annoyed sigh Naruto’s heard more than once or twice.

The guy who obviously doesn’t understand what personal space is—Sai, whose name sounds an awful lot like the guy Sasuke was warning him about earlier—steps from around Naruto to stand right beside Sasuke, creating a small circle between the three of them. “I’m almost under the impression you were trying to avoid me.”

He looks at Sasuke with a strange sort of smile. Beneath the questionable gleam in his eyes, it spreads slow across his face, giving off this almost artificial effect that makes the smile appear lopsided.

It’s a little off-putting actually.

Apparently, Sai’s smile doesn’t bother Sasuke, though. He returns the look with one of his more bored expressions, but it’s with an underlying ease Naruto immediately picks up on, because it’s the same kind of familiarity Sasuke has with him.

“Deliberately walking in the opposite direction after seeing you,” he says, “I didn’t think I could be any more subtle.”

Sai just continues to smile.

Naruto looks between the two of them. There’s a passing resemblance, he’ll admit, but nothing he would’ve caught if he didn’t know they were cousins. Sai’s eyes aren’t as dark. His hair’s cropped short and more of a brown than Sasuke’s nearly jet black. He’s a lot paler, too, like he hasn’t seen the light of day in years.

Give or take, he’s got a few good centimetres on Sasuke. He looks a little older, maybe closer to Itachi’s age, but still probably one of the younger members of Sasuke’s family Naruto’s seen so far. There aren’t too many of them. When Naruto asked about it earlier, after the ceremony, Sasuke admitted to being the youngest, only a couple months behind Tamaki, the bride’s granddaughter.

“Kagami mentioned you bringing a guest.” For the tiniest second, Sai studies Sasuke, but then just as quickly sets his gaze on Naruto.

“Who are you?” he says, tone a little too curt, almost like he already knows the answer to his own question.

Apparently Sasuke isn’t the only exception in his family.

Before Naruto can introduce himself, though, the Uzu from Uzumaki right on the tip of his tongue, Sasuke cuts him off.

“Leaving—he’s leaving.” Sasuke gives Naruto a pointed look he then turns on Sai. “We’re both leaving.”

Not leaving, Naruto frowns at the sudden change in behaviour. “Sasuke, what’re you—”

“You’re Naruto then. Uzumaki Naruto.”

Sasuke groans, mumbling something about his family being too nosy for their own good.

“How’d you—”

“You’re difficult to miss,” Sai says, glancing at Naruto’s hair. He stares at him with a disturbing kind of intensity, like he’s somehow trying to commit Naruto’s face to memory. “How long have you been having sex with Sasuke?”

Naruto balks.

“The next time I say we’re leaving,” Sasuke says, clipped, “we’re actually leaving.”

“Considering your propensity to shy away from most people outside of our family, Sasuke, the mere fact you invited Naruto here,” Sai says, “to this kind of family oriented occasion, not too dissimilar from Itachi’s situation regarding Mei, I feel it’s safe to conclude the two of you must be in a relationship that involves sex.”

Of all people, Naruto knows he’s not someone known for his tact, but really, this guy’s painfully blunt.

Which, of course, doesn’t mean Naruto can’t be just as straightforward.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he hisses. “Making that of kind assumption, being so open about other people’s personal lives and trying to violate their priva—”

“So you are having sex.”

Again, Naruto balks.

“I’m only making an observation.”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt you to keep those kinds of inappropriate observations to yourself. You shouldn’t be so interested in that sort of thing anyway.”

“Sai’s just trying to get under your skin,” Sasuke says, reaching up to give Sai’s off-white bowtie a sharp tug that makes it lie crooked below Sai’s chin. “A guy who makes a hobby out of provoking people, don’t listen to— _what are you doing_?”

Two fingers pulling back the collars of Sasuke’s jacket and shirt, Sai peers down at Sasuke’s neck, near his collarbone, inspecting the smallest little blemish on pale skin. “I was curious to see if there was anything on your neck.”

Batting away Sai’s hand, Sasuke hurries to adjust his clothes.

“And there is,” Sai says, seemingly unaffected by Sasuke’s glare that’s then directed to the last person of their three-man circle.

Recognising the exposed blemish as the hickey he left this morning, Naruto chuckles a little, feeling a guilty flush burning his cheeks that’s really close to taking over his entire face.

As bad as Sasuke might want to make it out to be, they actually weren’t doing anything more than kissing, the real heated sort of dazed kissing Sasuke likes to do whenever he’s really anxious about something but refuses to admit it. Staying in a really nice Western hotel or not, being in Yamaguchi for his aunt’s wedding, it wasn’t the right kind of atmosphere to do anything heavy. So they didn’t.

Yet while Naruto can’t say he didn’t notice the blemish, it was still low enough on Sasuke’s neck that no one else should have noticed. Which is why he didn’t exactly tell Sasuke about it. Besides, it’s not like Sasuke hasn’t left some incriminating marks on his skin, either, like the ones all over his thighs that one time, but the hickey was covered well enough by Sasuke’s shirt, even with the first couple of buttons undone.

Unless someone knew where to look for it, they wouldn’t have been able to find it. And because he left it there this morning, he should have been the only someone able to find it.

Definitely not a certain perverted someone who shouldn’t have even been looking for something like that in the first place. And definitely not the same certain perverted someone who’s being a little too attentive staring at Naruto’s neck.

“Personal space— _personal space_ ,” he almost squeaks, backing away from Sai taking a step towards him.

Thankfully, Sai’s able to get the hint this time, but it only seems to divert his attention somewhere it sure as hell has no place being.

“For someone already so lacking in more obvious areas, shrinking when it comes to the mention of your sexual relationship with Sasuke,” he says, with a glance at Naruto’s crotch that settles there a few seconds too long, “does that mean you suffer from performance issues, as well?”

Again, for the third time, Naruto balks.

There’s a slight twitch to Sasuke’s left eye, the telltale twitch of irritation. “You’re being this annoying on purpose. I know you are.”

“Look, not everybody appreciates when people talk so freely about that kind of thing, all right.” Naruto steps in front of Sasuke, lowering his voice he keeps a harsh whisper. “What are you even looking down there for, huh?” 

“You’re right,” Sai says. “There’s nothing to see.”

“Just what are you trying to—”

“Bye, Sai.” Grabbing Naruto’s elbow, Sasuke gives it a light pull.

Naruto doesn’t budge, though. He shakes his head, brushing off the fingers trying to cut off the circulation to his arm. “No, tell him, Sasuke. Tell him how big I really am down—”

Hand tightening around Naruto’s elbow, in one controlled motion so quick Naruto doesn’t even realise what happened until after the fact, Sasuke all but yanks him to his side. “As soon as we get back to our room,” he says, voice low the dangerous kind of calm that probably shouldn’t excite Naruto as much as it actually does, “I will kill you.”

“Is that a euphemism for sex?”

“Hey, you,” Naruto says, almost jabbing Sai’s chest with his finger, “you dirty pervert—you don’t get to be so concerned about that kind of thing.”

With a long-suffering sigh, Sasuke drops Naruto’s elbow and moves to push down Naruto’s hand, stepping in between him and Sai. “I should have left you in Narita.”

Naruto just gives Sai this look, this completely disbelieving sort of gobsmacked look because he swears the guy is silently laughing at him from behind Sasuke’s back, swears he sees a hint of a tiny smile sneaking onto Sai’s face, which isn’t fair at all, since the fact the conversation somehow managed to snowball into the quality of his and Sasuke’s sex life, it’s really not his fault. “But Sasuke, Sai’s the one who—”

“Leave Naruto alone, Sai.” Sasuke turns narrowed eyes on Sai. “Stop trying to antagonise him.”

“I wasn’t aware I was being antagonistic.”

“Of course you weren’t,” Naruto mutters.

“Does it upset you, discussing the matter of sex as inconsequential as the size of your—”

“I dare you to—”

“Both of you,” Sasuke says, raising two fingers that massage his temple, “shut up before you cause some kind of scene.”

From their place in the corner, Naruto takes a quick glimpse around the room. Miraculously, somehow, they actually hadn’t attracted any onlookers. It almost makes him wonder if this kind of thing with Sai is normal enough to be expected.

“Sai.”

Sai blinks at Sasuke, wearing the confused kind of innocent expression that doesn’t fool Naruto for a second.

It doesn’t fool Sasuke, either.

“Don’t pretend to be stupid for the sake of being stupid. That’s his job,” he says, making a small gesture with his head towards Naruto.

“What the—”

Sasuke gives Naruto’s grey tie a light pull, reaching up with both hands to straighten Naruto’s collar. “Naruto, you idiot,” he murmurs, “you dumb _idiot_ ,” he breathes, soft and close against Naruto’s mouth still too far away growing even farther as he steps back, “I told you not to listen to Sai.”

At the loss of contact, Naruto only feels a little petulant, but he’s sorely tempted to accidentally mess up his tie on purpose just to have an excuse to bring Sasuke back to him.

“Sasuke?”

Naruto turns at the soft gasp of surprise that came from behind him, completely ignored and almost bowled over by a blur of red that all but runs into Sasuke’s arms.

Keeping his balance, Sasuke catches the blur with a grunt, returning the arms held around his waist with a careful embrace. “Tamaki, what are you—”

“It really has been too long, hasn’t it?” Tamaki says, releasing Sasuke with a warm smile. The two wide bracelets white and gold on her wrist make a series of light clinking noises as she pulls at the ruffled v-shaped collar of her sleeveless burgundy dress. They fall over her hand when she reaches down to pull at the hem stopping right above her knees. “I know we didn’t get a chance to speak during the ceremony, but Aunt Mikoto said you were still here.”

“...Tamaki, I wasn’t—I wouldn’t have left without saying anything.”

“Oh, I know,” Tamaki says, absent with a soft hum as she glances around the room. “So this is where you’ve been hiding all this time...” Standing on the toes of her brownish bronze flats, she peeks at Sai from around Sasuke’s shoulder. “Keeping Sasuke to yourself like this, Sai, how horrible of you.” 

“Keeping Sasuke to myself?” Nonchalant, Sai brushes the back of his hand against the buttoned cuff of a black sleeve, shifting the majority of his weight on one foot. “No, I believe his date is the horrible one,” he says, giving a slight tilt of his head in the direction behind her.

“Your date, Sasuke? Where...” Brows knitted, Tamaki turns around before giving Sasuke a chance to speak, finally taking notice of Naruto standing behind her.

“Hi.” Naruto chuckles, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck. “I’m Naruto. Sasuke’s date, I guess.”

“I—I am so sorry. Please forgive me. It wasn’t my intention to ignore you.” Back almost ramrod straight, she gives a short bow, head lowered and hands folded in front of her. “I’m Sasuke’s cousin. Tamaki.”

“Really, being the same age, you don’t have to be so formal around me. I’m just—”

“But you’re that Uzumaki Naruto, aren’t you?” Arms falling to her sides, Tamaki raises her head. She shares a brief look with Sai, who gives a slight nod. Her mouth forms into a small _oh_ of understanding when she faces Naruto again. “The one everyone’s been talking about, yes?”

“How’d you—”

“Your hair,” Sai says, laying a hand on top of Sasuke’s head. He manages to slip in a few stiff pats over dark hair before a clearly annoyed Sasuke pushes the hand away.

Naruto blinks at the sudden uncanny feeling he’s getting. The whole gossiping too much thing, maybe Sasuke was right after all.

Tamaki watches him for a moment that doesn’t last long, but then she gives him this pretty smile, pushing behind her ear long strands of light brown hair that frames her face. She leans closer to Sasuke to whisper in his ear, except not really, because what she says is still loud enough for Naruto to hear. “And he’s so handsome, too, Sasuke.”

“T-tamaki,” Sasuke chokes out.

Laughing a little, Naruto blushes under her gaze. Not to say he thinks he’s some sort of idol or anything, but he knows he’s not the ugliest guy around, either, if people’s reactions to his dad’s looks are anything to go by, so being admired like that, it’s still nice to be told that kind of thing from time to time.

“For someone in Naruto’s condition,” Sai says, “unfortunate as it is to suffer from that kind of deficiency, alongside the already inevitable sexual frustration, I suppose he has to be able to compensate for his inability to—”

Fingers tight around Sai’s wrist, Sasuke hisses something to him Naruto doesn’t catch. Whatever he said, though, it just ends up curving Sai’s lips into this unsettling kind of knowing smile that doesn’t do a lot to inspire any confidence.

Sasuke’s cousin or not, he’s really, really starting to not like that guy.

Tamaki spares a quick look to Sai, mirroring Sasuke’s glare that’s more exasperated than anything close to being intimidating. It seems this kind of thing with Sai actually is normal enough to be expected.

“Please excuse our cousin,” Tamaki says, cheeks tinted a light pink as she gives Naruto another one of those pretty and polite smiles, “sometimes he can be a little...”

“I always thought—” Sai starts to say, but Sasuke doesn’t let him finish.

“Don’t, Sai.”

“Although he really does mean well,” Tamaki says, “really,” she says again, almost like she’s trying to convince herself. “He just—well, anyway, Naruto,” she says brightly, “I apologise for making such a hasty request, but please allow me to borrow Sasuke for a little while, to take him upstairs. I promise to return him to you quickly.”

“You can’t just make these kinds of decisions on your own,” Sasuke says, not bothering to hide the slight tug of his lips turning into a frown.

“I’m not.” Tamaki looks up at him, linking her arm around Sasuke’s elbow and holding him close. “I’m asking Naruto.”

“That’s not what I—”

“Of course, you’re welcome to come, too, Naruto.”

“I, um...” Not knowing what he should say, Naruto looks to an unhelpful looking Sasuke for help. “I don’t think that’s really my decision to make...”

“Being someone so close to Sasuke,” Tamaki says, “I’m sure Uncle Teyaki and Aunt Uruchi would like to meet you.” She squeezes Sasuke’s arm held against her side. “They’ve been asking about you all night, Sasuke.” 

Sasuke stills for a moment, a movement so slight and nearly imperceptible it almost doesn’t happen, but it’s still something Naruto knows Sasuke well enough by now not to miss. “I...”

“You should go, you know,” Naruto says, wearing the wide kind of reassuring grin that usually gets Sasuke to go along with him, because Sasuke’s been using him as a crutch ever since they got here, and really, despite all his joking earlier, he’ll be okay without Sasuke for a few minutes.

Sasuke hesitates. “What about you?”

“Ah, that, well, actually, I feel like taking a break anyway, so I’ll just wait at our table. Plus, I want to get some more mushroom rice. And pork miso. And some more of those tiny little salt-grilled chicken skewers. Probably another piece of braised pork. Maybe some of the shrimp tempura udon, too, since I haven’t had a chance to try that yet. Oh, and another piece of that really pretty looking mousse cake, before it’s all gone. Raspberry and white chocolate together, I didn’t think I’d like it so much, but it really is that good.”

Sai and Tamaki just stare at him, but Sasuke lets out a small sigh.

“What? It is.”

“If you’d rather stay here, Naruto, I’ll be more than happy to keep you company,” Sai chimes in unnecessarily. Very unnecessarily.

Although if it makes Sasuke feel more comfortable about leaving him, Naruto won’t mind putting up with Sai a little while longer, even when Sai starts giving him that lopsided smile he gave Sasuke earlier, the one where—okay, maybe he really does mind, but that doesn’t mean he’s actually going to change his mind.

“Hey,” he says, gives this small little smile that’s just for Sasuke, “I’m me, remember.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Sure, sure, that’s what you always say.” Naruto laughs with another wide grin. “I’ll be right here, though, okay.”

“Like you have anywhere else to go.”

“Not without you.”

Sasuke snorts. “You’re such an idiot.”

“I know.”

“Thank you, Naruto. It was a pleasure to meet you,” Tamaki says, soft with the gentle kind of smile that almost makes Naruto wonder if there’s something she’s not saying, but she turns away from him before he can ask. “We should hurry, Sasuke. I don’t want to be stuck playing flower cards with Aunt Uruchi’s group again this year.”

“W-wait, Tamaki,” Sasuke says, trying to not stumble as Tamaki pulls him away, “who said anything about playing flower cards?”

His voice starts to fade in the distance, disappearing as they reach the double doors, and Naruto blinks when he notices Sai watching him, reminding him he’s not alone.

“...what?”

Sai keeps staring, but unlike before, this time the look seems more assessing. Less...whatever the hell it was he was trying to do earlier. “You’re very...strange.”

Really? Of all the things this perverted guy has the nerve to come up with, he’s the strange one?

“Yet with the way you behave around Sasuke, assuming you’ve known him long enough,” Sai says, “would you say you’re able to satisfy his needs?”

“Tch. A guy like you asking that kind of thing.”

“Do you feel you’re able to fulfil his emotional needs, I should say, given how adamant you feel about your lack of sexual—”

“Not trying to be rude or anything,” Naruto says, casual, a finger and thumb pulling on the lobe of his ear, “since you’re Sasuke’s cousin and all, but I don’t think any of that’s your business to know.”

“So you don’t?”

There’s a sharp edge to the corner of Naruto’s mouth. “What I don’t like is what you’re implying.”

“Nothing,” Sai says, expression a little too bland, “I’m simply asking a question.” 

“Look, Sasuke’s an adult. He can take care of himself. It’s not up to you to decide what he does with his life.”

“Yes, all of those things are true.” Sai closes his eyes, head slightly cocked to the side. A small quirk to his lips almost looks like a smile. “Although I still wonder what my little cousin sees in you. It’s rare that Sasuke allows himself to become this emotionally attached to anyone outside of our family. That Sasuke even brought you here, you must be a very special person, Uzumaki Naruto.”

Honestly, Naruto’s not sure if he should take that as a compliment or not. He really can’t tell with someone like Sai. Can’t really say he wants to, either, after this sudden personality change, but at least the tension on his part’s a little less awkward with Sai not talking about sex. “Uh, thanks? I guess...”

Sai opens his eyes. He still has that smile on his face, that uneven smile that’s probably what Sai thinks is supposed to be inviting or something, except it kind of makes Naruto want to take a few steps back instead.

Just as he’s about to head for the dessert table, however, a familiar voice calling for Sai has them both turning to see Obito making his way over, and Naruto grins as Obito claps a hand on Sai’s shoulder.

He met Sasuke’s uncle right before the wedding, while the guests were being ushered in. Almost late, Obito was the last person to arrive, having stopped to help a couple of tourists who barely knew Japanese find their way around the city, because that’s just the kind of guy he is, the genuinely nice kind of relatable guy Naruto felt an instant attraction to despite the nearly thirty-year age gap between him.

“My nephew’s not giving you a hard time, is he?” Adjusting large black rimmed glasses, Obito returns Naruto’s grin with a friendly one of his own. It takes away from the streaks of grey in chin length dark hair held back with a tie, makes him look a lot younger than he actually is.

“I only asked a few questions,” Sai says. “I don’t see the harm in being curious.”

Removing his hand from Sai’s shoulder, Obito laughs. “Maybe so, but knowing your conflicting nature, knowing your tendency to rile people, someone who doesn’t know you isn’t used to that sort of thing.”

“Naruto’s an exception.”

Obito nods, making a low noise in agreement. “Even so, you’re too old to be teasing Sasuke so much. You’re almost twenty-six, aren’t you? You guys aren’t kids anymore.”

“Does it make a difference that I tease Tamaki, as well?”

“Really, Naruto, don’t let this guy get to you. Teasing you is just his way of showing how much he missed Sasuke,” Obito says, chuckling. “Speaking of which, where’s your other half anyway? I thought you’d be with Sasuke, but...”

“Tamaki’s having a turn with him,” Sai says.

“You really shouldn’t twist your words to sound that way,” Naruto mutters, “like Sasuke’s something you can just toss around.”

Both Sai and Obito raise an eyebrow, something everybody in this family seems able to do, if only because Naruto can’t raise one eyebrow without the other.

Under their stares, Naruto can’t stop the heat he feels colouring his cheeks. He tries to laugh it off, embarrassed that he was caught being so defensive of Sasuke in front of Sasuke’s family.

“Of course he isn’t,” Sai says, but Obito just smiles, an amused glint to his eyes that makes Naruto’s face turn even redder.

“What a funny guy.”

“A funny guy indeed.”

“Oh, before I forget why I came looking for you,” Obito says, eyes slightly wide fixed on Naruto,” Itachi was asking around for you earlier.”

Naruto points to his nose. “Me?”

“Mm...” Obito gives the room a quick glance. “He’s here somewhere. Knowing him, he’ll probably find you first, but—oh, and I have a message for you, too, Sai. The guys in the Peacock room, they’re complaining Emi’s winning too much at nine-cards.”

“Emi?”

“This one’s high school sweetheart.”

Naruto turns incredulous eyes on Sai. “You have a girlfriend?” Not that he thinks Sai shouldn’t have a girlfriend, yet somehow, the idea that Sai could have that kind of relationship with anyone, much less a high school sweetheart, it’s a little hard to grasp.

“That’s what I said, too.” Obito grins. “But they grew up together, drifted apart after high school, and then they found each other again in Gifu last year—like something straight out of a girl’s man—”

“This is where I’ll be taking my leave,” Sai says, one hand smoothing down the right lapel of his black jacket. “Meeting you has been a very interesting experience, Naruto.” His mouth curves into this barely there little smile before he offers Naruto a slight bow of his head, doing the same for Obito. “Until later, Uncle.”

“Everyone sending me to deliver messages like this tonight, maa, I feel like the errand boy I’m too old to be.” Closing his eyes, Obito lets out an indulgent sigh. He peeks at Naruto with one eye opened. “You don’t have a message for me, too, do you?”

“Actually, um,” Naruto begins, “considering we just met today, I know this sounds kind of sudden, so it’s fine if you don’t want to answer, but can I ask you something?”

Obito watches him with both eyes. “Shoot.”

“...do you know who Shisui is?”

“Let’s see. Shisui, huh?” Obito pauses with a thoughtful look on his face. “Shisui, Shisui, Shisui...I do. Why do you ask?”

“Itachi said something to me this morning, when we were on the phone.” Naruto’s brows furrow. “I didn’t think much of it then, but being here and not running into him yet, I started wondering, because Itachi told me I reminded him of Shisui.”

Quickly, Obito sobers. “He did, did he?”

Naruto nods. “It was kind of an offhand comment, though, since he didn’t say how or why. When I asked Sasuke, he said the name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he heard it from.”

“No, Sasuke probably wouldn’t. He was too young to remember who his cousin Shisui was.”

“Was?”

“Was. He passed away a long time ago.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Naruto lowers his head for a moment. He raises it again to look at Obito with an almost frown. “But being compared to Shisui then, that’s not a bad thing, right?”

“Ah, but then that would be telling, wouldn’t it?” Obito smiles, broad and a little silly, bringing to the surface the kinds of wrinkles around his eyes that can only come from smiling a lot. He tilts his head a bit, a finger resting on the side of his face. Then he winks. “And an old man like me can only hope to keep the secrets he doesn’t tell.”

The smile’s contagious enough that Naruto can’t help himself when he gives one back that’s just as wide. “You really don’t look that old, you know.”

“Trying to get me to spill my secrets, are you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Are you hiding from your debt, old man?” comes a low voice from behind him, and for the second time Naruto nearly starts.

Hikaku, he remembers, recognising the voice that belongs to the man Sasuke introduced him to earlier, although he’d appreciate the recognition more if he made it without Hikaku sneaking up on him, because that’s something people should really take the time not to do.

Somewhere around Obito’s age, or even a little older, maybe a little more serious, too, Hikaku’s another one of Sasuke’s uncles, a tall guy with long dark hair in a style that almost reminds Naruto of Itachi’s.

He steps closer to Obito, acknowledging Naruto with a small, polite nod.

“Sage advice for your generation,” Obito says, directing a finger at Naruto, “the best time to gamble is when you’re old. That’s why you catch so many old people in those pachinko parlours. But the real reason old people like to gamble, at this age, you have nothing left to lose. So even if you’re old enough now, it’s always best to wait to incur any debt.”

“If your gambling was as habitual as your drinking,” Hikaku says, “this family would make a collective decision to disown you.”

“As an old man clinging to my youth, at this stage in life, drinking is my right.”

“Yet you’ve managed to spend nearly half your life in bars.”

“Only in the ones I own,” Obito counters, draping an arm around Hikaku’s shoulders, “but with no children to carry my name, take pity on this poor old widowed Obito, Hikaku.”

“That ploy stopped working years ago. I have no sympathy for your kind of act.”

“Be my partner for another round of nine-cards upstairs then. We can bet with your money this time.”

“I already used your money to hold our place for the next hand.”

Letting his arm fall from Hikaku’s shoulders, Obito lets out a muted noise extremely close to sounding like a whine. “How cruel of you, Hikaku, someone with your kind of bad luck making use of my good money...” 

“Money you can be conveniently meagre with around me.”

Obito grins wide, not disagreeing. “Well, is there any more of the black sesame dango left? And the good kind of beer Aunt Kayou didn’t want to bring out? I need something to distract me from the future losses that will further incur my debt.”

“The restaurant’s still open.”

“Right.” Adjusting his round glasses, Obito gives a firm nod. “Let’s go then.” Before following Hikaku, he looks back to Naruto. “You’re old enough to drink and gamble, aren’t you? You should come.”

“Hehe, as fun as that sounds, I think I’m just going to grab something to eat and wait for Sasuke.”

“If you change your mind...”

Naruto shakes his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Thanks, though.”

“You know where to find me. But if I see Sasuke, I’ll make sure to send him your way, all right,” Obito says, throwing from over his shoulder another one of those really friendly smiles Naruto can’t help but return.

He gives a quick wave of his hand, watching Obito turn around to walk away.

There’s still no sign of Sasuke yet, but the ballroom’s quieted down some, with more people sitting than standing, and Naruto makes his way to the food tables. He fills two small plates and takes them to his assigned seat next to Sasuke’s, on the really nice comfortable chair where his dark grey jacket hangs off the back.

On the table he sits a small plate of finger-sized portions of meat. He’ll have to go back for the pork miso and the shrimp tempura udon, but this is good for now. The second plate he places down holds two thin slices of the white chocolate raspberry mousse cake, one for him and the other for Sasuke that he puts on a separate plate and covers with a cloth napkin.

It’s not the wedding cake, but he already got a chance to try that earlier, when the reception first started and people around the room were standing to give toasts to the bride and groom. The real wedding cake was a four-tiered almond cake, filled with layers of lemon curd and topped with a Swiss Buttercream frosting decorated with tiny intricate red and white flowers scattered along a gold beaded trim.

Although Sasuke doesn’t really eat too many sweets, Naruto shared a piece of the cake with him. Actually, he suggested they feed each other their first bites of cake, because he heard that’s a tradition in Western weddings for newly married couples, but when he told Sasuke, trying to bring a forkful of cake to Sasuke’s mouth, he almost got a fork in his eye for all his troubles, and then Sasuke said he’d throw the cake in Naruto’s face, which, of course, he knew Sasuke wouldn’t, but after scraping off most of the frosting, eventually, he did manage to get Sasuke to take a few bites on his own. 

As good as that cake was, though, this braised pork is even better, and he just about moans as the tender pieces melt in his mouth, juicy and moist, maybe even good enough and worth risking his life to ask Sasuke to try a recipe for this kind of braised pork.

Ever since Naruto told his mom that Sasuke started to cook, when she gave Sasuke a copy of that one Tiradito recipe she hunted down some poor chef in a Peruvian restaurant for, Sasuke’s been trying his hand at cooking more often. He’s not always the best at it, or at least he’s not always the best at experimenting with the non-traditional stuff, because he’s really, really good with Japanese food, but whatever Sasuke makes, unwillingly or not, Naruto will end up being the guinea pig anyway, secretly thinking of the charm Kiba slipped him to protect him from food poisoning that he has hidden away in a place where Sasuke will never find it.

So far, it seems to be working.

“Naruto.”

Dropping his chopsticks, Naruto almost jumps out of his skin at the deep voice, a hand flying to his chest and placed over his heart beating way too fast for his health. He turns to see Itachi taking a seat in the empty chair across from him. Taking a couple good seconds, he breathes in and breathes out, just to remind himself that he’s still able to.

That’s the third time today. What is it with these people and trying to scare the shit out of him?

“Somehow, I can’t help but feeling this is all part of some scheme to scare me to death by the end of the night.”

“Far from it.” There’s a faint smile on Itachi’s lips as he places a wide-bowled glass of red wine in front of Naruto.

“Thanks.”

“I’m sorry for startling you, though. It wasn’t my intention.”

Picking up the offered glass, Naruto lets out a small laugh. “I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it,” he says, taking a tentative sip of the wine. Beer’s more his thing, but this isn’t so bad.

He licks his lips, swallowing the slightly sweet flavour that leaves a pleasant taste in his mouth. After taking another, more generous swig, he sets the glass back on the table. “Oh—Obito said you were looking for me?”

Itachi gives a low hum, carefully twirling the flute glass in his hand. “I didn’t know if you and Sasuke had already left.”

“Oh. That. Really, I don’t think he’d leave without telling you, but we were just outside talking for a while. I didn’t know we took that long.”

“Ah.” Itachi gives a slight nod, bringing to his lips the glass of champagne with a relatively thick layer of carbonation nearly touching the brim. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yeah, yeah, this place is great. Big, too. I’ve never been to a wedding before, so the whole thing’s a little overwhelming, to be honest.” Naruto brightens with a grin. “But it’s exciting, too, though. 

“Getting a chance to spend time with your family, meeting so many new people that are important to Sasuke, actually, I’m starting to wish I brought my baby.”

“Your baby?” 

Hand reaching for the back of his neck, Naruto gives a sheepish laugh at Itachi’s raised eyebrow, “Not a real baby of course. Unless me and Sasuke, but that’s not what I—my Nikon F6, is what I’m trying to say. My camera, I mean. Being an ‘04 SLR model, I know it’s a little outdated, but it’s the first professional camera I ever bought. Got it for a really good price used, too. I’ve had it since high school, so baby’s just something I like to call it, I guess.”

Naruto sits up a little straighter in his chair. “I have a DSLR, too, a Nikon D3X. I’m lucky enough to work at a used camera store, so I got the ’10 model for a really good deal, because my boss is really nice. It’s just that I still have a soft spot for my first one, you know.”

“What people tend to cherish often bears the weight of a significant experience. Holding close what’s precious to you, it’s not unreasonable.”

Naruto agrees with an absent murmur, trailing off at the familiar glimpse of dark hair he sees on the other side of the ballroom. “...it’s not.”

He starts to smile a little, small but gradually growing when Sasuke immediately looks in his direction, warm and assuring when he catches Sasuke’s gaze he holds forever in that one moment until Itachi’s voice brings the world dissolved around them back to life.

“Hmm?” Arm propped on the table, Naruto rests his head against his palm. His eyes travel to the tall woman by Sasuke’s side. Mei, his mind easily reminds him, Itachi’s really pretty not quite sort of on-and-off girlfriend who almost caught the bouquet thrown by Sasuke’s aunt.

With a hand on Sasuke’s arm, she stops him in the middle of the floor. Waist-length red hair no longer contained in a messy low side bun falls down her back and sways with her hips, covering an expensive looking blue dress that fits almost close to snug around her body.

She’s attractive, he’ll admit. Attractive in a subtle kind of provocative way that’s so different from the persona women are typically expected to present, and maybe even alluring in the same way that initially drew him to Sasuke, because sometimes Sasuke gets this little glint in his eyes, this really sultry look promising all kinds of good things to come, and Naruto honestly can’t say he doesn’t endorse leaving himself at the mercy of Sasuke’s more than capable hands.

Although instead of being aggressive and violently demanding (never mind how much Naruto actually likes Sasuke being rough with him), how Mei carries herself, assertive and silently commanding, with that kind of obvious confidence, she just stands out.

It’s like when people first meet Tsunade and unintentionally stare at her chest. Of course, it doesn’t happen all the time, but a rack that big is really hard not to notice, because it’s not something people see every day. Even Sasuke admitted he almost caught himself staring at her chest when he met her, and he’s the last person to do that kind of thing.

“The quiet appeal Mei has, I truly do sympathise with you, Naruto.”

Blinking, Naruto turns to Itachi, lifting his head from his hand. “Huh?”

“However, as encouraging as it is not to have any reservations concerning your commitment to Sasuke,” Itachi says, “I would appreciate it if you refrained from staring at Mei so intently.”

“I-Itachi, I didn’t—I wasn’t—” Naruto struggles to piece together some sort of sentence from the words that don’t just want to come. Okay, so yeah, maybe he was kind of staring at Mei, but only because he was thinking of Sasuke, so that definitely has to count for something. “It wasn’t that I was trying to stare at Mei, but it’s not like you come across people like her every day.”

Gently setting down his glass of champagne half empty, Itachi simply looks at him.

“N-not that I was checking out your girlfriend, because I have Sasuke—we already established that, right, what you just said about me and my commitment to Sasuke—not to mention, Mei’s your girlfriend, so...”

Itachi doesn’t even blink.

“I did already mention how much I like Sasuke, didn’t I? Because I really do. A lot. A whole lot. I even told him right before we came here, after I told you about wanting to be your brother-in-law, remember, so it’s not that I meant to look like I was checking out your girlfriend in front of you. Which isn’t to say she’s not pretty or anything, because she really is, but I wasn’t trying to give you the impression I was checking her out in front of you like someone who didn’t already have Sasuke and didn’t already know she was your girlfriend.

“Because I wasn’t. Checking her out, that is. Really.”

Itachi blinks.

“...you know,” Naruto says, following a considerably substantial pause, “usually, Sasuke would have found some way to shut me up before I had a chance to get to this point.”

Itachi lets out a soft laugh, light and almost familiar but nothing like Sasuke’s. “You don’t have to censor yourself for my sake.”

“Oh. Okay.” Naruto heaves a sigh in relief, letting his body sag a little, but the tension quickly returning to his shoulders snaps them right back up. “Wait—wait, this isn’t some kind of trick to get me to let my guard down, is it?”

“Not unless you want to believe it is.”

“I’m really trying not to,” Naruto says, wry, giving Itachi a somewhat wary glance from the corner of his eye.

Although he knows Itachi likes him, Itachi still has this deceptively nice personality that’s a real testament to his outwardly calm nature. He can be a pretty intimidating guy at times, if only because Naruto also knows how much Itachi means to Sasuke, who, compared to his brother, is an open book Naruto’s read over and over again.

With the barest hint of a smile, Itachi picks up his glass and takes a small sip of champagne. “You’re fine, Naruto.” 

“Now I just feel like you’re making fun of me.” Naruto grins at Itachi’s tiny little smile, glancing at Sasuke and Mei near the stage.

“Maybe a little,” Itachi admits, setting his glass on the table again.

“Heh, as long as you aren’t...”

“As long as I’m not what?”

Eyes growing wide, Naruto squawks, gaping at Sasuke and Mei. “Did she just—”

...

“—kiss me like that?” Sasuke says, rubbing the heel of his palm against his cheek and gifting Mei with a half-hearted glare. “I’m not some little kid.”

“And yet I couldn’t help myself. You’re adorable.”

“I’ve been an adult since you’ve known me. I’m not adorable.”

“Unfortunately for you, those cheeks say otherwise.”

“Mei...”

“Come on. Dance with me, Sasuke.”

“Why?”

“I want to be able to fully appreciate your aunt’s taste in music.” Pale lipstick is stained on full lips drawn into a secretive smile, and Mei reaches with her right hand to hold Sasuke’s left, easily resting her free arm around Sasuke’s shoulders. She’s already considerably taller than average, but dark sharp heels give her a few centimetres over Sasuke, putting her somewhere closer to Itachi’s height. “Appease me.”

“Make Itachi appease you.”

“Your brother refuses to dance with me.” Mei leans a little closer to leave a conspiratorial whisper in his ear. “Let’s make him jealous.”

As she pulls back, Sasuke snorts, but an obliging hand finds its way at her waist, leaving a comfortable distance between the two of them. “You know he won’t fall for that.”

“Of course. He’s too sensible for that kind of thing. I wouldn’t tolerate him if he wasn’t.” Thin metallic jewellery dangles and swings from her ears as Mei follows Sasuke’s movements. “Although it’s still fun to tease you, no?”

Sasuke sighs. “And this is why you were in such a hurry to bring me here, to dance in front of Itachi?”

“To some extent, I suppose, but I’m more interested in listening to your aunt sing.” Mei glances towards the stage, where a woman from the small band begins to play a soft melody on the white grand piano. “I heard she has an amazing voice for enka.”

Without bias, Sasuke can say his aunt sings well. He doesn’t particularly care for her preferred genre of music, aside from that Otowa Shinobu album he received for his tenth birthday, but he doesn’t dislike it, either. Enka’s the kind of music he grew up listening to whenever his dad took him to visit his grandmother during the winter, the kind of music he’d hum all the words to while lying beside his grandmother on the tatami floor, the kind of music an echo scratchy from her old record player nearly as quiet as the sounds of wide brushstrokes guided by a small hand trying to emulate the vast mountains high above the shrine near his grandmother’s house.

“Do you know if she’ll sing tonight?” Mei says. “Itachi told me she didn’t sing at her last wedding. Which one was that—her fifth one?”

“Maybe,” Sasuke says. “I think she sang at the wedding before that, but this is her eighth one.”

Mei releases a soft hum. “There’s a rumour circulating that her talking cats are ultimately what drove off her last three husbands.”

“Her cats don’t talk.” Sasuke almost frowns but then thinks better of entertaining that rumour surprisingly still going around.

He believed it once, when he was five and he and Tamaki would take turns trying to get Aunt Kayou’s old cats to tell them all the secrets of the world, including why Tamaki’s grandfather always seemed to smell like fermented cabbage. Of course, they were at that gullible age Sai was more than happy to take advantage of, although after a while of waiting for the cats to respond, they eventually did grow bored and realise the cats weren’t able to talk, no matter how much Aunt Kayou liked to talk to them.

“Cats don’t talk.”

“Not according to what I heard,” Mei says. “How many does she actually have?”

Truthfully, Sasuke’s lost count over the years, yet his aunt’s house is large enough to accommodate more than she probably needs. “Too many. She’s almost seventy. I don’t know how she keeps up with them all.”

“That’s what a husband is for.”

“If that’s what you want to believe.”

“Wanting to make someone you love happy, no matter how uncertain the task, I’d still like to believe in it.” After a pregnant pause, with poorly concealed enthusiasm bright in her eyes, Mei says, “Now tell me about Naruto.”

Sasuke almost makes a face. “That’s why you wanted me to dance with you.”

“After you introduced him as a very close friend, you two left before I had an opportunity to speak to him. Itachi claimed it wasn’t his place to say anything, but it wasn’t too difficult to figure out. Everyone I ran into couldn’t stop talking about the elusive blond man you brought home. Especially the ladies. As of now, we’re all in agreement that Naruto’s best feature is his very handsome smile. He’s quite the catch.”

“Putting so much emphasis into that kind of thing,” Sasuke says, glad Naruto’s not here to hear this, because for all the damage it could inflict, someone with Naruto’s inflated ego really doesn’t need to hear this, “tch, no one’s able to keep their mouth shut in this family.”

“Oh?” Mei’s eyes flutter in surprise. “And I’m family now?”

“You may as well be. You’re just as bad as everyone else.”

“Well, in that case,” Mei says, “I think I’d like to propose to your brother sometime soon.”

Eyes large, Sasuke coughs, nearly chokes when the air in his throat goes down the wrong way. “Y-you’re really going to...”

“Yes.”

“...this isn’t you asking me for approval, is it?”

“No,” she says, the word pleasant and airy accompanied by a gentle squeeze of Sasuke’s shoulder she removes her arm from as they come to a stop. “I simply felt this was something I wanted you to know.”

“I don’t...”

Mei gives a small shake of her head. “Because you’re important to Itachi, that means you’re important to me, too.”

Slow, Sasuke nods when she releases his left hand, letting his right hand fall away from her hip.

“Let’s keep it a secret between us, though, shall we?” Smiling, Mei gives him a light tap on the tip of his nose. “If he accepts, I need you to pretend to be surprised when we make the announcement.” 

Sasuke gives her another half-hearted glare. “Making that kind of serious confession to me and then treating me like some kid, what’s the point in that?”

“You’re adorable when you sulk.”

“Mei...”

“You still haven’t told me about Naruto.”

“He’s Naruto.” Lower lip tucked beneath his teeth, Sasuke glances at the stage behind them. “What more is there to say?”

“Rumour has it there’s much more than you’re willing to tell.”

Sasuke groans.

...

“...I thought this was supposed to be a family type gathering,” Naruto mumbles.

“It is.”

Really, it was just a kiss on the cheek, which didn’t upset him as much as it took him by surprise, which then led to the clumsy kind of impulsive reaction he hardly ever means that Sasuke’s been steadily trying to break him out of the habit of doing, but Naruto still makes a point to ignore Itachi’s seemingly endless gaze.

Or at least he tries to.

He braves a glance away from his unfinished plate of food.

Itachi’s still staring.

After taking a small sip of wine, carefully setting the glass on the table, Naruto clears his throat.

Slowly, Itachi starts to smile, bearing a sly sort of misleading smile giving him this too highly amused look that almost makes Naruto want to squirm on the edge of his seat for something he’s not entirely sure he actually did.

“Without a doubt,” he says, a hand in one fluid motion pushing back stray hair falling over the side of the face, “you are the most innately droll person I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet.”

“Funny.” Snorting, Naruto reaches for the last piece of braised pork on his plate. He swallows it in one bite. “Not that I won’t take that as a compliment, but Obito and Sai mentioned something along those lines, too.”

“Meeting Sai, I’m sure it must have been an enlightening experience.”

“Eh, I can’t say I was prepared for it. Coming here, I really didn’t know what to expect. Sai, though, he...well, at first, I kind of got the feeling he didn’t like me,” Naruto says, tries to hide his reluctance of the admission behind a hesitant smile. “He’s not an easy guy to read, especially since he doesn’t mind being so blunt, but Sasuke and Obito already told me not to take what he says seriously.”

He lets out a low chuckle. “Not that I was anyway, but I really am trying to make a good impression, you know. Doing that kind of thing, it’s important to me.”

“I do believe Sai can be particular in how he chooses to express himself.”

Naruto scrunches his nose. “That’s definitely one way of putting it.”

There’s a small movement at the corner of Itachi’s mouth that almost turns into another smile. “However, I also believe it takes an incredible amount of resilience not to like you, Naruto.”

“Really? You think so?” Naruto all but preens. “When I first started trying to be Sasuke’s friend, he once said knowing me was like a war of attrition, because it took less energy to be my friend compared to all the times he tried to ignore me.”

Of course, Sasuke later said it was an annoying character trait Naruto shouldn’t be so pleased about having, but since his persistence got him where he is with Sasuke now, he thinks it all panned out pretty well.

“I’ll confess,” Itachi says, finishing the rest of his champagne, “someone with your infectious personality, I wouldn’t expect to find you sitting here alone.”

“Ah...” Naruto looks up, a finger scratching the side of his face below his chin. “For this sort of thing at least, I don’t mind taking a backseat. I’m a simple kind of guy, so if it means I get to see Sasuke happy, I’ll be fine.”

“Abiding by such a staunch mindset, it seems very selfless of you.”

“I’d like to think so, but really, the only reason I don’t mind is because seeing Sasuke happy makes me happy. Like I said, though, I’m a simple kind of guy.” Naruto shrugs. “Being in Yamaguchi, it’s the first time he’s come back here to see his family in a long time. You already know how important this is to him. I do, too. And this sort of formal occasion really isn’t my kind of thing.

“Besides, I plan on spending the rest of my life with him. I don’t want to do anything that’ll make me lose Sasuke. Not if I can help it.”

“That’s a bold assertion.”

“Which one? Wanting to be with Sasuke or not wanting to be without Sasuke?”

“Seeing there is a difference, since you’ve already made the distinction, I won’t entertain a question you know the answer to.”

Naruto licks his lips, picking up his glass of wine still half full. Staring at the red liquid swishing inside, he raises the glass a little higher, bringing the rim closer to his mouth, but then he places the glass back down on the table.

“It’s kind of scary, you know,” he says, “when I realise how strongly I really do feel about Sasuke, about this guy I still think of as my best friend, who’s become so much more than that, but I know he feels the same way, too, so even if it still seems sudden to make that sort of declaration, our relationship, it’s not something I’m going to let go of.

“I already promised Sasuke.” His mouth teeters on the edge of a straight line, eyes a fixed stare set on Itachi. “And I never go back on my word.”

“...as fickle as the future can be, you’ve never considered the possibility of having second thoughts?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Both eyebrows raised, Naruto settles on giving him this exceedingly dry look that just might be inadvertently questioning Itachi’s sanity. “You know how hard I had to work to even get Sasuke’s attention? Not to mention, even being close to him then, how long it took for him to see me as more than a friend? And trust me. It wasn’t for lack of trying, either.”

Around a small smile, Itachi makes this soft noncommittal noise.

“Sasuke’s always liked you. You’re his brother. I don’t think he’ll ever stop liking you. But me...” Frown lines mar Naruto’s face, and he looks down, fiddling with the thick white fabric covering the table. “After all this time, though, he’d have to be the one to get rid of me first, and even if he tried, well—”

Lifting his head, Naruto cracks a wide grin that almost might have been enough to catch Itachi off guard. ”Just know I’d be coming to you, so expect a call if that ever happens, okay.”

“I’d prefer not to receive a call from either of you.”

“Good.” Naruto continues to grin. “Hearing that kind of thing from you, being able to talk to you like this, I really do consider you to be family, so one day, I hope you’ll consider me to be family, too, and maybe I can introduce you to mine—your family’s already so big, though.

“When Sasuke said a lot of people were going to be here, I wouldn’t have thought there’d be this many. I guess because your family is so old? He told me you could trace the Uchiha name all the way back to the Tokugawa period. I thought my mom’s family name was old, but the records for Uzumaki don’t even go past the Meiji era, so it’s kind of amazing to know your ancestors could have been ninja or something.”

“Our records aren’t so extensive, either, but I’d hesitate to say our family came from anything other than simple merchants and artists.”

“Still, who’s to say it couldn’t have happened? Being a part of that kind of history...” Folding his arms behind his neck, Naruto lets out a wistful sigh, leaning back into his chair. “My family’s pretty small compared to yours.”

Itachi nods with a low hum.

“Not that I mind. My mom and dad used to travel out of the country a lot, until I was about three or four, so I mostly grew up with my aunt and uncle. It was just the five of us for a while, until I was nine and then we adopted my sisters.

“Being a big brother, I think I probably spoil them too much, but they’re my little sisters, you know, so I’m okay with that. If only they didn’t like Sasuke so much, though.” Dropping his arms to rest on the table, Naruto leans forward with a grin. “Putting so much attention on him, I don’t know if that should make me happy or jealous.”

“Sasuke’s met your family?”

“Yeah, I took him there sometime in January, during the break. I’m from Mobara, so that’s not too far from Narita. It really was a spur of the moment thing, but I think he ended up getting along with my family too well. Especially with my mom.

“How they keep in touch, I already told him it’s weird—not that he actually listens to me. Not that anyone listens to me. Definitely not Sakura and— _oh_.” Sitting up, Naruto lets eager fingers fumble to dig out the phone in the side pocket of his pants. He falters for a moment, noticing his missing wallet, but then he remembers Sasuke has it.

“Here. Let me show you.” His thumb turns on the dark screen that brightens to reveal the wallpaper a photo of Sakura and Ino taken in front of the cherry blossoms at Tokiwa Park. They’re standing next to each other, cheek to cheek, wearing identical, wide smiles and pointing v signs at the camera. “These are my sisters.”

He places his phone on the table so Itachi can get a better look. “That’s Sakura’s on the left. She just turned thirteen last month. Ino, though, she won’t be thirteen until November,” he says, looking up to Itachi with a grin. “They’re really cute, aren’t they?”

“They are. Their smiles even share a likeness with you.”

Fighting a blush, Naruto laughs a little, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. “...thanks. They really like getting their picture taken, so I have a lot of photos of them, but my wallpaper’s one of my favourites.”

“Sasuke never did enjoy being in front of the camera.”

Naruto snorts. “He still doesn’t. Considering how much I like photography, I’m lucky I even managed to get what I have. Did he ever let you take any?”

“The photos I took before leaving for New York, I may still have a few of those on my phone.”

“Can I see?”

“Of course.” 

Reaching inside of his jacket, Itachi takes out a sleek, extremely thin white phone. It’s the newest Docomo model that just came out a few days ago and way more than Naruto can afford on his skimpy personal budget not spent on school related expenses or bills or food, or any of the important kinds of things he needs in order to survive.

It’s still a really nice phone, though, only a little smaller than Naruto’s hand. Itachi brings it out of sleep mode and unlocks the touchscreen display. He opens a simple file manager type app, falling into a series of quick sweeps with his finger over the screen.

The movement’s too fast for Naruto to keep up with, nothing but a haze of various characters labelling the multiple folder icons passing on the screen.

At least until Itachi opens an image file that’s decidedly not a photo of Sasuke.

Which Naruto takes it upon himself to helpfully point out. Just in case Itachi couldn’t tell the difference between his brother and those hostile looking projectiles sitting in a large display case. For whatever reason. “...that’s not Sasuke.”

“My apologies. I must have opened the wrong folder. This is a photo from my sword collection.” 

Picking up his jaw from the floor then letting it drop again, Naruto just stares at Itachi. Really, he just stares. Skewed sense of humour, his ass. He doesn’t care what Sasuke said earlier. There’s no excuse or good willed intent not even remotely sinister to justify showing that kind of thing. Who even walks around carrying that kind of menacing photo on their phone at all?

“...just how many of those ridiculously sharp and pointy looking things do you actually have?” he says, cautiously, because he doesn’t exactly appreciate the panoramic view showing a too large array of unsheathed swords.

It’s not the most comforting image to be shown by Sasuke’s older brother, especially since most of the time Naruto can’t tell when Itachi’s being serious or not.

If Sasuke was wrong about Itachi’s sense of humour, maybe Itachi really wasn’t joking about the whole treating him to fugu thing after all.

“Not as many as I’d like. I’m partial to antiquities, but most of them are difficult finds. Discovering these particular swords has been a gradual effort over the years.”

Wisely, Naruto doesn’t bring up the fact that the swords in the photo actually look brand new. Recently polished, too. More functional than decorative even.

Sure, he knows Itachi was the one who inspired Sasuke to take up kendo on the side, that Itachi was the one who gave Sasuke his shinai, that Itachi also retired from the international circuit during college as a ninth-dan, the highest grade given that pretty much doesn’t exist anymore, but he never thought breaking Sasuke’s shinai that day would come back to haunt him like this.

“You really do like your swords, don’t you?”

“It’s a hobby to pass the time. Nothing noteworthy,” Itachi says, although Naruto silently disagrees, “but I suppose it’s enough to store them in a separate room. If you ever feel inclined, you’re more than welcome to take a look.”

“Visit your condo? Maybe if Sasuke comes with me, too, but until then I, um...yeah, I think I’ll be okay. I get homesick too easily.” Naruto’s trying exceptionally hard not to let his admittedly overactive imagination run away with him, except it already is, and now he’s starting to get all kinds of images in his mind he’d much rather do without.

Being Itachi’s brother, it really is no wonder where Sasuke got his sadistic streak from.

Looking back at the phone Itachi placed on the table, Naruto actually takes a moment to appreciate the pixel quality of the photo and just how clearly he can see the gleam of the swords’ blades. A hand makes a slight gesture pointing towards the phone. “Do you mind if I...”

“Help yourself,” Itachi says, picking up the phone and handing it to Naruto. “It may not be a camera, but there’s been a notable improvement in the mobile phone market recently.”

“It’s impressive enough,” Naruto admits, “for the capability of a phone at least, but it could never compare to my baby. These new phones still can’t replace the real thing. With such small lenses, there’s still a big technical limit to what you can do with them, especially in different settings, which really does lower their performance depth, because there’s not a lot of room to offer quality control.

“So no matter how many times a camera phone improves, it’s still just a phone.” His finger and thumb close together touch the screen then quickly span apart to zoom in on the display. 

“It is,” Itachi says. “However, I wouldn’t have taken you for such a purist.”

“Growing up watching my dad work, learning from him, I don’t think that way of thinking can be helped,” Naruto says, giving the phone back to Itachi, “so maybe I am a little of a purist, but that doesn’t mean I don’t take pictures with my phone, though. And it doesn’t mean your phone makes your swords look any less sharp, either. Pointy, too.”

“I’ve been told they appear sharper in person.”

That Itachi can say something like that so calmly, almost forebodingly, with such a soft and gentle looking smile, really, how’s Naruto supposed to even respond to something like that?

Settling on busying his mouth with a piece of chicken, he loops his finger around the broad end of his tie then bunches the soft material in his hand, giving Itachi another wary look that turns a little wry.

When he realises what he was just doing, though, he immediately straightens in his chair.

He groans, trying to smooth down his tie with his palm in the hopes he can make himself look presentable again. “Sasuke’s going to kill me,” he mutters. “I wasn’t even paying attention to what I was doing—my tie doesn’t look wrinkled, does it?” 

“No, but your knot is loose.”

“Agh.” Naruto lifts the flaps of his collar. “And Sasuke took his time trying to make it look so nice, too. Not that I don’t know how to tie my own tie. He just assumed I couldn’t and didn’t give me a chance to say I could. Plus, I like it when he does it instead, because I only know how to do a really basic tie, and he can do these—”

Moving the knot up to his collar, he pauses. “You won’t tell him what I just told you, will you?”

Itachi chuckles. “Not unless he asks.”

“Thanks.” Naruto sighs in relief. “I’m just glad I didn’t mess it up, since Sasuke bought it for me.” Looking down at his chest, he gives the dark grey tie a proud pat with his hand. “It’s made from real silk, too.”

Gaze warm, Itachi laughs again, this time a little softer, a little more relaxed with another one of those really gentle smiles. “...thank you, Naruto.”

“Huh?” Naruto looks up. “For what?”

Itachi makes a low noise and shakes his head.

Before Naruto can ask him what he means, however, he’s distracted by Sasuke and Mei taking the seats on either side of him.

“You certainly do have a boyish quality about you. Not only does it enhance your smile, it’s rather endearing. Charming, too,” Mei says. “Such a gorgeous blue, though, has anyone ever told you how striking your eyes are, Naruto?”

“Maybe, but, um...” Naruto blinks. “...thank you?”

“Would you like to dance with me?” she says, leaning a little too close for Naruto’s comfort.

At Naruto’s pleading look, Itachi sits back in his chair, crossing his arms and raising an ankle to rest over his knee. “I’m not the most competent dancer,” he says, like that’s really supposed to explain why his girlfriend seems so set on dancing with Naruto. 

Still facing Naruto, Mei glances at Itachi from the corner of her eye. “My Itachi actually admitting he has a fault?”

Itachi gives her an amused look, probably part of some kind of inner joke Naruto really doesn’t want to know about. “I’m not without one or two.”

Momentarily forgetting his discomfort, Naruto turns to see Sasuke reaching over to swipe the last piece of chicken from his plate. “Hey, that’s—”

“Do you think you’ll be able to help me make Itachi jealous?”

More than a little alarmed, Naruto flushes under the intensity of Mei’s stare, lumbering for a response like some kid who just got hit by puberty. “O-oi, Sasuke—Sasuke, I know you’re seeing this. You have to be seeing this, right? She made a move on me first.”

Unfazed, Sasuke continues to chew on the piece of chicken formerly belonging to Naruto, continues to be indifferent to Naruto’s obvious pain and suffering. 

“Appearing so at ease in this kind of situation, it isn’t normal,” Naruto mumbles, looking to Itachi, since Sasuke won’t even bother to take pity on him. “Shouldn’t you be a little more concerned about your girlfriend flirting so openly with another guy?”

“Are you implying you’re a reason to be?”

Naruto squeaks. “That’s not what I mea—”

“You should go, you know,” Sasuke says, choosing now of all times to be a vindictive bastard and throw Naruto’s words back at him, like he actually wants to give Naruto a death wish, because Itachi’s not staring at him with one of those really gentle smiles anymore.

No, Itachi’s just staring at him, wearing one of those really unreadable expressions that has _everything_ on Sasuke, and Naruto swears he sees Itachi discreetly tapping twice the outside of his jacket right over the inner pocket holding his phone, under the pretence of brushing off a piece of lint that’s definitely not there.

It can’t just be his imagination this time.

“Hold me, Sasuke.”

“Don’t worry,” Mei says, “I’ll hold you, Naruto.”

With another squeak, Naruto shakes his head, inching a little further away from her, as much as he can on the chair. “No, no, I want Sasuke to hold me. Sasuke, I want you to hold me. I want to be held in the relatively safe comfort of your arms.”

Sasuke snorts. “You big baby,” he says, but smiles this tiny little fond smile that makes Naruto grin, because he knows it’s the kind of tiny smile that Sasuke saves only for him. “You can’t handle a little teasing?”

Vague, in the back on his mind, Naruto registers Mei quietly pulling away. She stands and brings Itachi to his feet, leading him to the middle of the ballroom where they slip away from Naruto’s sight.

Arms falling over his lap, he leans closer to Sasuke, but he doesn’t close in on the modest distance between them. “I like it when you tease me. Does that count for anything?” 

“Looking at me again with that incredibly stupid smile,” Sasuke murmurs. He turns his head to the side then brings his gaze back to Naruto. “You really are such an idiot.”

“Am I?”

“...you are.”

“Well, that’s okay then,” Naruto whispers, slowly reaching for Sasuke’s hand with fingers Sasuke gives a firm squeeze.

“It is?”

“Yeah, because I don’t mind being an idiot for you.”


	21. Morning in Your Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Sitting on me doesn’t do any favours for whatever’s decaying in your mouth.”_

Against the background of a steady drone from the TV, gradually, Sasuke’s vision blurry begins to clear. His eyelids heavy begin to droop once more, but then he blinks, assaulted by the sight of blue eyes almost too bright accompanied by a disarming smile nearly blinding.

Turning away from the sun slowly slipping through the window, he lets his head fall back on Naruto’s shoulder, closing his eyes and muffling a groan.

He really does need to stop waking up like this.

“Yeah, I can’t believe you slept in, either,” Naruto says, with a chuckle a low rumble in his chest turning into a tingle taking its time to travel along Sasuke’s spine. “But it’s not a big deal. It’s Sunday.”

Head still resting on Naruto’s shoulder, Sasuke peers at the low square table to Naruto’s right, glancing over the two half-eaten bowls of rice porridge, one sinking a partially submerged pickled radish disappearing beneath too many sesame seeds and the other discoloured from traces of leftover pork picked out of a two-day old takeout box Naruto found in the fridge.

The rice porridge was actually the product of the burnt rice Naruto somehow achieved via the use of Shikamaru’s rice cooker. Not wanting to waste the rice, he brought it when he came over last night. _I tried to make study food_ , he said, with the most obnoxiously insistent grin that just made Sasuke want to throw the burnt mess in his face.

Instead, miraculously, Sasuke managed to find a way to salvage the rice to scrape together a dinner that, for once, didn’t solely consist of takeout. The actual edibility of said rice was a silent question he decided was better left unanswered, although Naruto did help himself to finishing the rest of the pot on his own.

Past the two bowls, however, to the left of Naruto’s glasses laid partially folded, a light blue alarm clock catches Sasuke’s attention. He grunts, tucking his right leg against his chest when he reads the time.

9:15.

Licking his lips, he swallows, trying to get rid of the dry taste in his mouth. “When did I...” he croaks, the sound of his voice making him frown at the round clock with the face depicting a sleeping Doraemon lying on his side.

It’s not his. The clock belongs to Naruto, because the kid he not so secretly still is wouldn’t outgrow a character like Doraemon. In whatever strange way—endearing, maybe, Sasuke wants to think—it suits him, though.

He left it here once and never bothered to take it back, so the clock usually sits undisturbed near the edge of the table. Impervious to the occasional teasing from Suigetsu, there it usually stays until it’s placed wherever Naruto wants to move it whenever he decided to invite himself over for the night.

The clock’s simply yet another one of the many things Naruto just so happened to leave at Sasuke’s place. Like the blue and yellow toothbrush replacing the red one Naruto threw away last week, or the accumulation of clothes taking up space in Sasuke’s closet already challenged for space. There’re enough clothes to constitute a full load of laundry if Sasuke ever took the time to separate his clothes from Naruto’s before doing his Saturday morning laundry runs dragging his highly uncooperative hamper six flights of stairs down to the basement floor. And this is excluding the mounting pile of Naruto’s unmatched socks that pair with the ones amassed in their own little corner by the window in Naruto’s apartment.

Those off-hand remarks Shikamaru would make about how much time he and Naruto tended to spend with each other, Sasuke hadn’t put much credence into them before, but with continuously missing art supplies he already knows where to find in the various areas not Shikamaru’s Naruto designated his, scattered in places beyond the blue storage cube sat next to the grey beanbag chair by Naruto’s desk, retrospect makes it easier to see how they’ve managed to perfect the uncanny ability to live together while living apart.

Shifting on Suigetsu’s extra futon he borrows too often, Naruto pulls on the plush comforter shared between them, letting it fall to his lap.

“You didn’t even make it ten minutes into the second part,” he says, grinning through a wide yawn as he straightens his back against the wall. “To tell the truth, though, I think I fell asleep when they started talking about the Yellow River. But I didn’t want to move you, so...”

Sasuke makes a low noise in acknowledgement, closing his eyes. Beneath the comforter pulled up to his chin, he brings his other leg against his chest, laying one arm over his knees. His left arm hangs loosely at his side, and he reaches for the ankle of his right foot lying on top of the left.

He doesn’t remember dozing off, doesn’t recall much after the segment on the Terracotta Army, but he’ll fault the music for lulling him to sleep. Not that he needs an excuse to fall asleep on Naruto. Much like Naruto only needs a whim to come over unannounced, nonchalant with a simple shrug and an even simpler _I wanted to see you_ , but last night they were supposed to start watching that NHK documentary on the Silk Road.

He swiped a copy from his advisor Friday, ignoring Kakashi’s cheerful claim that the defunct laser disc version offered better picture quality and carefully removing the DVD box laid precariously on the top shelf of the leaning tower of books he refuses to acknowledge—that safety hazard of a bookshelf’s supposedly been on the verge of falling for years, and it’s a wonder anyone hasn’t found themselves buried beneath the collection of porn Kakashi belies as literature.

But the documentary is required viewing for their history class. In lieu of a conventional exam, Kakashi assigned a research project, a paper no less than fifty pages. It’s due before the second week in March, when final exams are administered, which gives them a little under a month to delve into a topic of choice underlining the transmission of art along the Silk Road and the significance behind the scope of various cultural influences.

However, although history is one of Sasuke’s favourite subjects, if anything, given how surprisingly shrewd and meticulous Kakashi could be, there’s probably some hidden agenda behind the seemingly straightforward assignment.

He long ago deemed Kakashi a lazy professor who liked to flaunt his unapologetic indolence with a personal philosophy of teaching his students how to teach themselves, a method that, of course, extended to his advising capabilities, or rather lack thereof, essentially promoting the idea of allowing Sasuke to advise himself.

How Kakashi was ever approved to serve his current ten year tenure, Sasuke still doesn’t know.

Yet, for all his apparent quirks, Kakashi’s more than competent. He’s highly proficient in art history and well known in the archaeology field. Unorthodox teaching methods aside, he’s good at what he does—or doesn’t do—and Sasuke does respect the fact Kakashi strives to challenge rather than coddle his students.

“...bending yourself into that kind of position,” Naruto says, “it doesn’t look comfortable.” There’s a substantial pause. “At all.”

Sasuke relaxes, leaning more heavily against Naruto. “I don’t do this for your comfort.”

“Still, I mean, as much as you sit like that, don’t you get sore when you stay curled up for so long? I know I would.”

“You’re not as flexible as I am.”

“...right.” Naruto clears his throat. “I remember you telling me that you were, uh—that you were really...um, bendy.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Again, Naruto feigns a cough. “Well, as comfortable as this obviously is for you, I kind of can’t feel my left side anymore.” He gives Sasuke’s arm a soft nudge but doesn’t push him off. “You know,” he says, “if that happens to mean anything to you.”

“It means you have two choices.”

“You’re actually giving me a choice this time?”

“Die so I can go back to sleep.”

“Seriously? That’s one of my choices.”

“Or stop talking so I can go back to sleep. Pick one so I can go back to sleep.”

Naruto doesn’t hold back a snort. “You can be such an ass when you’re cranky, you know. Like that time you almost took my eye out with your pinkie.”

“Stop exaggerating.”

“That’s the thing. I’m not exaggerating. I honestly thought I was going to have to start walking around wearing an eyepatch. And all because you got cranky when I woke you up and said you were drooling on me.”

“...I don’t drool.”

“Of course. You’re above doing that sort of thing.”

“And I’m not cranky,” Sasuke mumbles into Naruto’s shirt, “I just don’t appreciate your face being the first thing I see when I wake up.”

“Way too late for that, don’t you think?”

Sasuke groans, fingers unfurling from around the soft material of the comforter gathered in his hand.

“Really, though, it’s almost ten. And the side you’ve been sleeping on is getting kind of numb. I mean, I know you’re leaning against me, because I can see you leaning against me, but I don’t think I have the ability to actually feel you leaning against me anymore.”

“...talking, Naruto, why are you still doing it?”

“See,” Naruto whispers, with his breath warm tickling the shell of Sasuke’s ear, “if I tried to pull something like this with you, I bet you wouldn’t be so accommodating.”

Lifting his head, placing a hand on Naruto’s shoulder for leverage, slowly, Sasuke begins to sit up. The comforter falls to pool over his lap as he crosses his legs. Covering a yawn with the side of his arm, he drags his fingers through mussed hair, what Naruto sometimes likes to refer to as a special Sasuke version of Uzumaki style bed head.

“You’re right,” he says. “I wouldn’t.”

An errant finger reaches to poke his forehead, but Sasuke intercepts it with a flick of his wrist. “Don’t do that.”

Naruto just smiles, though, gives him this exceedingly silly kind of boyish smile so incredibly stupid if only because rarely does it fail to leave behind too many increasingly impossible to undo knots in Sasuke’s stomach.

“The concept of personal space,” Sasuke says, a short puff of air blowing the hair away from his face as he releases Naruto’s wrist, “do you not think it applies to you?”

“Says the guy who treats me like a surrogate bed.” Naruto lets out a light scoff. “Isn’t that—” Pursing his lips, he snaps his fingers three times. “That word I’m looking for, what do you call it?” 

“A double standard.”

“Yeah, yeah. That. Being close to me, but not letting me be close to you, isn’t that a double standard?”

“I never said it wasn’t.”

“Okay, so, um...” Chewing on his bottom lip, Naruto inches closer, further diminishing the lack of distance between them. “In this case then, wouldn’t it make more sense that personal space shouldn’t apply, since you’re the one who fell asleep on me first?”

No, Sasuke begins to say, but he draws his head back and scrunches his nose instead. “Your breath smells.”

The words don’t make Naruto falter like Sasuke almost expects him to, don’t turn the smile Naruto’s already wearing too freely into anything other than a devious grin reinforced by the questionable gleam in his eyes. Scooting forward, without warning, he opens his mouth wide to breathe on Sasuke’s face.

Sasuke sways back, raising an arm in a futile attempt to shield himself from Naruto looming closer and closer still, squishing Naruto’s nose beneath his hand half-heartedly trying to push him away. “Naruto, you idiot, don’t—”

Eyes large, he feels himself falling, caught in a tangle of limbs between the sheets and comforter of the futon. He lands on his back with a soft thump, grunting at the weight shuffling on top of him.

Crossing his arms, Naruto sits back and admires his handiwork, looking all too pleased. “Still think my breath stinks?”

“Sitting on me doesn’t do any favours for whatever’s decaying in your mouth.”

Naruto laughs, obnoxious and loud, but somehow the sound is as soothing as it’s become familiar. Uncrossing his arms, he lowers his hand, knuckles making a gentle brush across Sasuke’s cheek. “Like yours is any better.”

“My breath isn’t foul.”

“Mine isn’t, either,” Naruto says, but the certainty in his voice begins to waver as he frowns, eyebrows furrowed in the wake of a thoughtful silence. “...is it?”

Not bothering to wait for an answer, he brings a hand close to his mouth and breathes against his palm. After a pause, he does it again. There’s an earnest consideration visible on his face as he tries to gauge his breath for a third time.

Naruto doesn’t have bad breath per se. Despite the leftover pork curry he practically inhaled last night, his breath is no worse than the usual morning breath that’s to be expected. Although being on the receiving end of Naruto’s morning breath usually doesn’t involve Naruto straddling him and all but sitting on the almost erection Sasuke could do without.

Giving Sasuke’s shoulder a light shove, Naruto sucks his teeth. “You’re such a jerk, you know that.”

Sasuke returns the peeved look with an unimpressed one of his own.

“I can’t believe you—I almost did believe you. Saying something died in my mouth when you _know_ my breath doesn’t smell that bad.”

“...get off me,” is the surprisingly gruff sound of Sasuke’s voice, unsurprisingly ignored, because Naruto really does have no concept of personal space, considering how often he takes it upon himself to invade Sasuke’s ever-shrinking bubble he blatantly disregards.

Then again, these days, it’s not something he can say he minds anymore.

So for now he just closes his eyes. Head turned to the side, he sighs, draping an arm over his forehead. The fingers from his other hand begin to tap on the tatami mat floor, following the upbeat melody to one of those annoyingly catchy Glico commercials.

He continues to lie there, lets his hand still, undecided if he wants to move just yet.

As routine as waking up beside each other has become, despite how frequently he accuses Naruto of being slow whenever it came to the art of subtlety, he honestly wouldn’t have thought Naruto could be so obtuse.

With the ease of the unusual closeness they share, lack of people skills Naruto claims he has aside, if Sasuke noticed the gradual change in their relationship, then there’s no reason to suspect something hasn’t registered with Naruto by now.

He realises he likes Naruto. He can’t quite pinpoint when or how it happened, but on a subconscious level, whatever sensibilities such an admission probably doesn’t entail, he’s liked Naruto for a while.

Likes him for all the things he is, possibly more so for all the things he isn’t.

Enough so to act recklessly on a stupid compulsion that led him to convince Naruto it’d be a good idea to rent an apartment with him.

And he is. Or at least he will being renting an apartment with Naruto. Soon. When their current respective leases are up in May, shortly after they begin their third year at Tama, they’ll be moving to Narita. They’ll be living together without living apart. Not too far from the Hachiouji campus, in this affordable little place they agreed on after spending a two month process weeding through various listings and disappointing appointments.

Although he knows the attraction between them is no longer simply platonic on his part, sometimes, amid the internal struggle to articulate what it is exactly he’s looking for from Naruto, sometimes, he really does feel it’d be more constructive to suffocate Naruto with the very same futon he uses too much.

Yet here, lying in the quiet reserved for the normalcy in these kinds of moments between them, he’s almost tempted to reach out for Naruto, almost tempted to give into this funny little urge to play with Naruto’s hair just to see what kind of expression he would make.

It’s a temptation that hasn’t presented itself until now, something well beyond what he can only attribute to the sort of teenage crush harboured by shy glances and naive expectations inspiring clumsy promises clutched by fingers nervously intertwined he’s never experienced before.

If he were a little more sentimental, if he dared to place credibility into the kinds of superficial labels he doesn’t care for, then maybe one of those labels would express a semblance of what he wants Naruto to be.

For a moment, a moment held still so pitiably fleeting, he almost throws all instinctual caution to the wind just to indulge in this one temptation. Arm slow to rise, elbow partially bent, his hand begins to make a blind reach toward the ceiling, as if he’s reaching for Naruto, but he lets his arm drop to the floor before it can fully extend.

The desire to keep Naruto all to himself, this selfish little notion spurring an undeniably nonsensical yen leaving him grappling for something, anything, the smallest reassurance to allay that smidgeon of doubt fuelling the stark possibility he’s misread Naruto in those instances of hesitation that may have meant nothing at all—this concrete fear, too easily can he imagine a reality where he opens his eyes and Naruto won’t be there.

For all Naruto’s outward confidence, as tactile a person as he can be, beneath the Naruto always so damn cocksure in everything else he does lies this tentative Naruto who seems overwhelmingly oblivious to even the slightest touch remotely suggestive in nature.

He almost resents Naruto’s inattention. Or maybe he would hold a childish resentment if he were in the habit of developing irrational grudges for situations he can only fault himself for. In this situation, namely, it’s the consequence of being too subtle for someone as dense as Naruto.

But there are times, so many times in these same kinds of quiet moments between them that he imagines being able to reach out for Naruto with the knowledge that Naruto will always be there, and so many times when he opens his eyes only to lose himself in Naruto’s gaze that makes him feel so incredibly transparent, as if written all over his face is the prickling awareness that Naruto has become more than just _Naruto,_ and he can’t help but feel so pathetically hopeless because Naruto doesn’t seem to understand how with just one look, in that one moment, he can make Sasuke feel like he’s the only person in the world.

“Sasuke...”

To end up falling so hard for such a ridiculously clueless guy...

“You plan on staying down there all day?”

There’s a soft lilt to Naruto’s voice, barely heard over the announcer listing the sponsors from some programme on TV Asahi, and Sasuke grunts, swatting at the finger poking his cheek. He squeezes his eyes already shut as the air to the left of him shifts.

“Hey, hey, you’re not trying to make me do Kakashi’s project on my own, are you? Because you already said you’d help me. You don’t get to get out of something like that.”

Sasuke blinks, eyes open met with an inquisitive stare and Naruto’s face hovering too close above his own. “Go away, Naruto.”

“See? What’d I tell you?” But Naruto still sits back, kneeled beside him. He slaps both hands over his knees, and absently, Sasuke wonders when he moved. “ _Cranky_.”

“Waking up next to you, I can’t help it that seeing your face makes me want to go back to sleep.”

“Hehe...” Smile wide, Naruto holds out a hand towards Sasuke. “You know how many people would kill for the chance to wake up to the sheer perfection that is my face?”

Sasuke scoffs, taking the proffered hand and pulling himself up. “Everyone in your imagination.”

“So mean, Sasuke.” Propping himself against the wall, Naruto laughs, extending his legs beneath the comforter he throws over them both. “You’re just jealous of my good looks. Admit it.”

“Sure.” Sasuke inhales, leaning against Naruto with an exhale. He listens to the faint echo of Naruto’s laughter gradually beginning to fade, listens to Naruto’s steady breathing as he all but dozes off again.

“...hey, Sasuke.”

“Hmm?”

“...we hang out together a lot, don’t we?”

“We do.” Sasuke tilts his head back a little to peer at Naruto. “What about it?”

Naruto shrugs. “Nothing. Just saying. I guess.”

“Saying what?”

“That we’re friends.” Eyes slightly narrowed, Naruto makes a vague gesture with his hand. “I mean, that is what we are, isn’t it?” He pauses, fiddling with the edge of the comforter and glancing at the TV screen. “...friends. We’re friends.”

“I don’t know, Naruto,” Sasuke breathes, laying his head on Naruto’s shoulder. “Are we?”

Abrupt, Naruto straightens his back against the wall, jostling Sasuke. “Yeah, so—hey, um, want to head down to Sukiya for some beef or something?” he rushes out. “I’m starving.” He stretches his free arm above his head then reaches down to pat his stomach.

Sasuke sighs. “When aren’t you hungry?”

“Shut up. I’m only nineteen. I’m still growing, all right,” Naruto says, and Sasuke can almost hear the grin in his words. “Not to mention, I’ve been trapped under your lazy ass all morning. And then I couldn’t find the remote, so I had to suffer through watching Pretty Cure Five—the least you can do is let me eat.”

“The least I can do? For all I know, you were probably enjoying it. Or watching Doraemon again.”

“So you caught me that one time when nothing else was on. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though, okay.” With a low hum, Naruto makes a placating motion with his hand. “But really, I can go and pick something up real quick. Unless you want to stay in?”

“As much we eat out, yeah, I think I can find something to make. Could you...”

Naruto nods. “You shouldn’t drink this stuff so much,” he says, grabbing from the table a nearly empty bottle of peach flavoured green tea he hands to Sasuke anyway. “Using it to keep yourself up, it’s dangerous, you know.”

Sasuke accepts the tea with a soft hum. After emptying what’s left of the bottle, he screws the cap back on. “It’s tea.” 

“But there’s no sugar in it. You keep drinking disgustingly strong tea that’s not even sweet. Going through life with so little sugar, that can’t be healthy for you.”

“Going through life sprouting such senseless things,” Sasuke says, employing the empty bottle to hit the side of Naruto’s head, which in no way warranted the ensuing screech trying to deafen Sasuke in one ear, “you should only be so lucky you’ve managed to make it this far.”

“What is it _with_ you and hitting me?” Naruto mumbles, sending him a petulant glare turned pout by protruding lips. “You really like seeing me in pain that much?”

“I barely tapped you with an empty plastic bottle. Tell me how that hurt.”

“Yeah, well...” Naruto sniffs, turning up his nose. “Whatever. That’s not the point. It’s the principle of the thing. Between all the hitting and the kicking and all the cruel things you like to say to me, it’s just not safe for me to be around you at this point.”

Sasuke lets out an amused snort, placing the bottle on the floor and settling against Naruto. He folds his arms over his chest, elongating his legs almost touching Naruto’s beneath the thick material of the comforter still warm.

The lag in conversation is filled by the sounds from some variety show featuring a member from Plastic Tree promoting their new greatest hits albums Naruto’s been talking about all week. Although Sasuke’s not really a fan of the band, he won’t deny that he likes the songs Naruto handpicked for him to listen to from the playlist that one day snuck itself onto his mp3 player.

“July can’t come fast enough.” Naruto groans, letting his head fall on top of Sasuke’s.

“It’s less than five months away.”

“I think you should help me find a way to speed up time or something,” Naruto mutters. “Yeah, we should definitely do that.”

“It’s a greatest hits album. Wouldn’t you already have all of the songs on there anyway?”

“Probably. I guess. It’s not really the same, though. Because they’re one of my favourite bands, I like the idea of being able to show my support for them.”

“Don’t be so impatient.” The heel of Sasuke’s foot makes a casual brush across Naruto’s ankle, a deliberate touch brief the thin material of his sock sliding against Naruto’s bare skin.

Naruto stiffens for a second or two. He takes a deep breath, somewhat shaky, and Sasuke can almost feel Naruto swallowing the lump in his throat. “...I-I’m not impatient,” he says, low, almost a harried whisper, but then his shoulders start to relax, and he bumps Sasuke’s leg with a firm nudge from his foot, readjusting the comforter covering his lap.

“To call me impatient when you’re the one who’s always so cranky,” he mutters, “I don’t see how that’s fair.”

Sasuke shakes his head against Naruto’s shoulder, lowering his gaze to hide the slight curve of his lips the tiniest trace of a smile he doesn’t let Naruto see.


	22. Crazy, Crazy Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“I’m this close to sucking you off, and you’re the one complaining.”_

“So...how are we doing this?”

“ _We_ aren’t doing anything.”

“We’re not? Didn’t you just say—”

“I’m doing this.”

“Come on, Sasuke. You don’t get to make that kind of decision on your own. Sex involves two people, _two peo_ —w-wait, wait a minute. You can’t just—”

“I just did.”

“Yeah, you just did, you inconsiderate bastard, but who said we’re only doing this your—”

“Unless you’re changing your mind...”

“The hell I am. Stop trying to put words in my mouth.”

“No, Naruto, I’m just trying to put _this_ in mine.”

“W-which is good. Great even. The best kind of great that makes me like you a whole lot more right now. And you know how much I already like you. All I’m saying is—”

“Yes?”

“I, uh, all I’m saying is...”

“I’m this close to sucking you off, and you’re the one complaining.”

“Because I don’t see how any of this is fair. What if I wanted to—”

“ _Naruto.._.”

“Okay, n-never mind. I take it back. We’ll do it your way, and you can keep doing that. Yeah, you can—you can...yeah, you can d-definitely keep doing that. Shit, just like that. Keep doing that. Please say you’re going to keep doing that.”

“...as long as you stop pulling on my hair.”

“S-sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to pull so hard, but you’re just—I mean, you are really, _really_ good at doing that.”

“The way you keep saying it, you’d think this was the first time I went down on you.”

“I’m going to chose to ignore that for now, but even with a condom, you really do know how to—wait, s-stop, stop, hold on.”

“Don’t tell me you’re already—”

“No— _no_ , I am not saying that. You of all people should know I have plenty of stamina. More than enough. I just...since this is our first time trying this kind of sex, I kind of, um, I kind of wanted to do it at the same time with you.”

“...you’re so hopeless.”

“Hey, don’t give me that look. Smiling at me like I said something funny, Sasuke, I’m being serious about this.”

“I know you are.”

“Then what’s so funny about me wanting to wait until I’m inside you to—”

“...nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“That’s what I said.”

“I don’t think that kind of kiss means nothing.”

“It could. Or maybe you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. I’m always—oh, _oh_ , are you really...”

“Mm-hmm.”

“You really are—”

“Relax, Naruto.”

“I thought—I thought I was the one who was supposed to say that to you.”

“Not when you’re the one who’s tense.”

“Okay, so maybe I am. As good as it feels to be this close to you, though, with you, ah—being able to see you taking me in like this, d-don’t you think you’re going a little too fast? I don’t want to—”

“You won’t. But it’ll be easier for me to relax once you stop acting like you’re actually going to hurt me. Unlike you, I know what I’m doing.”

“I’m not saying you don’t. And I’m not trying to be nervous. Only, I’ve never done this kind of thing with another guy before, so, especially since it’s with you, I don’t want to do anything wrong.”

“You’re not. Just...just give me a few seconds.”

“Are you oka—Sa-Sasuke, you...”

“I’m fine.”

“I can’t believe you’re actually, uh, wow, that feels...”

“Are _you_ okay?”

“S-shut up. Someone like you, taking advantage of my inexperience like this, you’re killing me.”

“Hardly. Think you can manage to stay still a little longer?”

“Not if you keep moving like that.”

“Like this?”

“Don’t stop. Don’t—fuck, you feel good. You feel so good. So fucking good, I just want to—you sure this isn’t—”

“We wouldn’t be doing this if it did. Stop putting so much thought into this. It’s not your strongpoint. Here. Bring—ah, bring...bring your hands h-here.”

“Here? Hold you like this?”

“...mmm.”

“For you, too, does it...”

“It’d feel a lot better if you moved.”

“But what if I—”

“ _Move_.”

“Not too much, though, okay. N-not too much. Let me start off—why the hell are you suddenly moving faster?”

“Any other time...”

“You’re seriously going to pull that one on me.”

“...better yet, I’m going to ride you, Naruto.”

“I, um...o-okay.”

“Hard. Fast. The way we both like it.”

“That’s, uh, that sounds...”

“And you’re going to touch me. You’re going to make me feel you everywhere.”

“Everywhere?”

“Inside and out, you’re going to make me _need_ to feel you all over me, because I’m not letting you hold back.”

“...saying those kinds of things with such a straight face, you have no idea what I want to do to you right now, do you?”

“Maybe.”

“You really think so?”

“I know you. But if I said I still wanted you to show me...”

“...hehe, then it’s my turn.”


	23. Nothing Better Than You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“So I’m not allowed to be happy around you anymore?”_

“Still not talking to me?”

Raising his arms, Sasuke slips a rumpled grey shirt over his head, the same rumpled grey shirt that’s not his with the allegedly demented smiley face he claims not to like but wears the hell out of anyway. “I’m trying to get dressed.”

“Answering with a yes or no, I don’t think it’d hurt you to try that, too.”

“Then no,” Sasuke says, hands guiding his arms through short sleeves, “I’m still not talking to you.”

Sitting up, Naruto grins and throws his legs over the edge of the bed. Bare feet planted apart wide on the floor, he leans over, resting his elbows on his knees. He brings his hands together, watching Sasuke’s back disappear beneath the light grey shirt.

His gaze lowers to the bottom of the shirt falling right above Sasuke’s thighs and covering a loose pair of boxer briefs. Slowly, his eyes trail long legs, following a single bead of water leading a path curved along pale skin.

Running a hand through dark hair still somewhat damp, Sasuke bends over, picking up the match to the black ankle sock on his left foot. He barely lifts his right foot off the floor, left leg kept straight as he slips the sock over his heel.

Not consciously, with the unintentional intention of getting a view he can better appreciate, Naruto tilts his head slightly to the side. He tracks the careful movement of deft fingers that were all over him less than an hour ago, especially keen when Sasuke begins to stand, carrying Naruto’s gaze back up the length of legs that were also all over him less than an hour ago. Among a lot of other body parts involved in what happened less than an hour ago.

He always did admire Sasuke’s really good sense of balance.

“You don’t have anything else to do?”

Unfazed by the abrupt sound of Sasuke’s voice, in the middle of his blatant staring, Naruto doesn’t have the shame to feel guilty about being caught. It isn’t like he hasn’t been on the receiving end of Sasuke’s more subtle gaze from time to time, but he still makes a show of pretending to think. Squinting with one eye closed, he raises a finger to scratch the underside of his chin, eying the open doorway to his left and the large art portfolio sitting next to it on the floor.

Looking back to Sasuke, he sits up and lowers his arm, shaking his head. “Nah, not really.”

Sasuke sends him this highly unimpressed look from over his shoulder. “Sitting there wearing that kind of smile, coming across so pleased, it’s annoying.”

“So I’m not allowed to be happy around you anymore?” One at a time, Naruto rolls up the legs of his black sweatpants above his calves, not trying to hide a laugh at the almost pinched expression on Sasuke’s face. “Besides, I thought you weren’t talking to me.”

“I’m not.” Turning around, Sasuke shuts the top drawer to the short wooden chest in front of him.

This unremarkable piece of antique looking furniture that probably survived the Showa period, they’re supposed to try to refurbish it sometime this weekend. They splurged for it on a whim last Tuesday, because it was on sale, more than well within their budget, and as much as Naruto doesn’t mind Sasuke stealing his stuff, he’d actually like to be able to wear his own clothes every once in a while without worrying about running out of shirts by the end of the week.

Especially since the laundry Sasuke convinces him to do too often, poorly justified by the fact most of the clothes are his (completely ignoring the fact it’s not Naruto’s fault that Sasuke’s clothes just hang there on his side of their tiny little closet), he’s not a big fan of it.

At all.

“I guess if you really don’t want to talk to me,” he says, dragging out the words with a lazy drawl, “sure. Okay.”

After moving to close another drawer, Sasuke pauses. Shoulders tense, his hand hovers near the upper right corner of the chest. “Okay?”

Naruto immediately picks up on the suspicion in Sasuke’s voice, but he doesn’t answer. From the bed, a faint creak follows a soft rustling while he begins to stand. Trying to make as little noise as possible, he takes quick steps spanning the short distance bringing him closer and closer Sasuke.

“What are you—”

He pounces before Sasuke has a chance to finish. The stutter of his name fades into a soft cry of surprise as his arms grab by the waist a stumbling Sasuke who sends them both toppling backwards onto the bed.

They fall with a thump that draws out a loud creak from the bed. Naruto grunts, carrying the brunt of the impact and barely dodging the back of Sasuke’s head nearly colliding with his chin. Although Sasuke’s far from being the heaviest guy out there, he’s not exactly a lightweight, either, especially in a situation where he might start to feel uneasy about being this close to someone he doesn’t know.

Sneaking up on Sasuke from behind, the first few times Naruto tried something like this, while he was still trying to get Sasuke to be his friend, experience did well to teach him Sasuke doesn’t pull his punches.

He doesn’t have to worry about Sasuke retaliating on him for that kind of thing now, obviously. Not to the same extent at any rate. Still, there’s something he happens to like about being able to feel Sasuke’s weight on top of him like this. It doesn’t really make sense to him, not if he starts to think about it too much, but it’s more than just the aspect of being a physical sensation fuelling what Sasuke likes to claim is an irritatingly persistent need to constantly _touch_.

More importantly maybe, at least in this instance, if he really wants to think about the implications of intentionally making Sasuke fall for the sole purpose of proving he’ll be able to catch him, he’d like to believe there’s a significance behind his uncommon but not always uncharacteristic show of subtlety he knows Sasuke tends to respond to better, so Naruto just gives him a light squeeze, securing him in a loose hold that’s still firm.

Like he expects, Sasuke starts to wiggle a bit. It doesn’t take long for him to relax, though. Head leaned back, hair brushing against the sheets, Sasuke reaches for the arms around him, feet propped near the edge of the bed and on either side of Naruto’s legs.

“...Naruto.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s this?”

“I ambushed you.”

After a short pause, Sasuke sighs. “Not that you won’t make me regret asking...” Palms pressing down against Naruto’s forearms, he makes an unenthusiastic attempt to get Naruto to move. “Aside from stating the obvious, why did you suddenly feel the need to have me rethink how much of an idiot you really are?”

“Ah-ha!” Naruto pokes Sasuke in the hip twice. “Call me names all you want, but I still got you willingly talking to me again, didn’t I?”

Sasuke’s chest rises, like he’s getting ready to say something, but then he just sighs again. “I don’t even know why I bother.”

“Because you know you can’t deny that I’m right.”

“No. Now let go.”

“Actually,” Naruto says, keeping one arm around Sasuke’s torso while his other hand moves to slip beneath Sasuke’s shirt, “I’m kind of comfortable right now.”

“I’m not.”

“That’s not what you said earlier.”

“Naruto...” Making a weird little noise, Sasuke twitches, tense at the fingers on his skin slowly beginning to trace a path along his side. “Don’t you—”

Of course, what he already knows Sasuke was going to tell him not to do, Naruto does it anyway, practised fingers darting over Sasuke’s skin, attacking without restraint and earning him a sharp gasp that has Sasuke jerk violently in his arms.

It’s no secret Sasuke doesn’t like being tickled. Although Sasuke will let him get away with doing it every once in a while, he knows he’s still pushing his luck the few times he does it, but he seriously can’t help it if he thinks it’s funny the way a squirming Sasuke twists into all these awkward looking angles trying to get away from him.

“N-Naru—Naruto, let me—”

But when Sasuke actually starts to laugh, actually breaks into this uncontrollable fit of these really cute sounding giggles while he’s contorting his body and flailing all over the place, now that’s just downright hilarious.

More than Sasuke’s contagious giggling, though, being able to see him completely come undone like this—well, Naruto just about loses it at that.

“D-damn it, Naruto, you stupid—” Trying and failing to grab Naruto’s hands, Sasuke bends his back into this incredibly high arch, heels digging into the sheets in an attempt to escape relentless fingers. “I’m going to kill—s-stop it, _stopitstopitdie_.”

Naruto just continues to laugh, smile stretched wide even though he knows Sasuke will probably find a way to inflict some cruel form of retribution to get him back tenfold, but for now, being able to hear that kind of unreserved laughter from Sasuke, simply knowing Sasuke is comfortable enough with him to allow him to do this, it’s definitely worth it.

Or at least it is until Sasuke nearly guts him with his elbow. Once. Twice. But then Naruto decides better than to risk a third close call when he finally lets his arms fall away.

Moving pretty fast for a guy who looks so breathless, Sasuke rolls off Naruto and onto his back, head landing smack dab in the middle of the oversized pillow nearly half the width of the bed. Mouth slightly parted, he stares up at the ceiling with closed eyes, chest heaving and arms held listless above his head.

A moment or two passes, and Naruto watches with an already wide self-satisfied grin that only continues to grow when a tight-lipped Sasuke turns on his side to face him.

Left leg bent, Sasuke slides it up the bed, bringing it closer to his chest. He shifts his right knee to rest on his left foot, watching Naruto with narrowed eyes.

He’s more than used to Sasuke’s glares by now. Not that they did much to deter him in the first place. If anything, Sasuke putting down all those efforts to gain his attention ended up goading Naruto that much more—still does, actually. Although considering the messy dark hair sticking up every which way and the flushed cheeks that are starting to look a little puffy, Sasuke inadvertently doing his best to imitate the one thing Naruto can’t unsee ever since Itachi told him about it, the last thing that glare does is make Sasuke look menacing.

“...you jackass.”

Naruto grins at the hand shoving against his chest. He already knows Sasuke isn’t seriously trying to push him away. “Since when does wanting to make you feel better make me the jackass?”

“When I’m finished with you, Naruto, there won’t be anything left of your body to find.”

“Heh.” Rubbing a finger against the side of his nose, Naruto chuckles. “Can’t blame me for not being ticklish like you.”

“I can. And I will.”

“You’re not really going to hold a grudge over something like—hey, man code, man code— _watch it_. No kicking down there, all right.” Both hands guarding his very, highly important assets, Naruto cringes when Sasuke’s foot hits his arm, a little too close to his crotch for comfort. “That’s the part of me we both really like, remember?”

“Do I look like I care? Be grateful this is the only thing I’m in the mood to do right now.”

“What kind of—h-hey, hey, didn’t I just say that area’s off limits? Kicking me so casually, I know we already talked about you resorting to this kind of thing before.”

“Like I’m even hitting you that hard.” Sasuke sticks his leg out again, the heel of his foot this time digging into Naruto’s thigh. “You really think I’d do that to you?”

“The way you keep kicking at me, yeah,” Naruto says, deflecting another onslaught that seems more like some kind of personal vendetta against his thigh. “Cause it sure as hell doesn’t look like you’re too far off from trying to neuter me.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes. “You would think to put it that way, wouldn’t you,” he says, getting Naruto in the leg one more time. “If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been trying to kick you off the bed.”

“Trying to kick me off the—” By the time Naruto realises how close to the edge he’s been moving, he’s already falling off the bed, and he squeaks, eyes large as he watches Sasuke’s face disappear.

He lands on the floor with a swift thud, quiet with the exception of a low groan more out of irritation from being pushed off the bed than any kind of pain. But, slight irritation aside, it didn’t hurt. He wasn’t expecting it to, either. The short drop was an uneventful trip he can say he’s made a few times before. Although, despite how often Sasuke does threaten to kick him off the bed, it’s the first time he’s actually tried to do it. Not that Naruto assumes it’ll be the last, knowing how unforgiving Sasuke can be sometimes, but usually, when he does find himself on the floor, it has more to do with his bad sleeping habits rather than Sasuke’s self-conscious nature.

In the meantime, though, he stretches out on the floor and makes himself comfortable, leaving one leg up while extending the other. Placing his hands beneath his head, he waits, listening to the shuffling noise from the bed growing louder as it comes closer.

Two or three seconds later, Sasuke peers over the edge of the bed, laying his head on the oversized pillow tucked under one arm.

Naruto meets the quiet concern in Sasuke’s gaze with a grin. “Not even going to ask me if I’m okay?”

“Am I supposed to?”

“Uh, considering you just kicked me off the bed, yeah. You could afford to look a little less uncaring. What if I got hurt or something?”

“You didn’t.”

“But still. What if I did?”

“You’re fine.”

“You could at least pretend to worry about me, you know. For my sake.”

“For your ego, you mean.” Lifting his head, Sasuke makes this small little frown. “I don’t like being tickled.”

“I know. That’s why I did it.”

“And that’s why you’re on the floor. You shouldn’t be so dramatic anyway.”

“I am not—” Quickly, Naruto sits up, standing on his knees and crossing his arms he throws on top of the bed. “...dramatic.”

Sasuke snorts. “You’re messy, too.” Ignoring Naruto’s offended cry, he beckons him closer with a finger Naruto follows without hesitation. “Let me see.”

“What is it?”

“There’s something on your mouth.”

“Where?” With the back of his hand, Naruto rubs at the corner of his mouth. He goes cross-eyed when he looks down, trying to see if he got whatever it is Sasuke’s talking about. “Did I get it?”

“No, you...” Licking his thumb, Sasuke reaches to wipe a spot above Naruto’s upper lip. “Something white,” he says, drying his thumb on the sleeve of Naruto’s dark blue shirt.

“Oh.” Naruto blinks. “Probably that cream custard filling you made. It was actually pretty good. Better than the raspberry jam one. That wasn’t bad, either, but the green tea roll cake, even though it’s less sweet, I think you should keep that recipe. It’s different.”

“I’m going to assume you already ate the rest of it.”

“What? It’s not like you made a lot of it. And you said I could have it.”

“I did. I just didn’t think you’d finish it all at once.”

“I know I tease you about your food sometimes—”

“Sometimes?”

“Okay, okay, a lot—I tease you about your food a lot,” Naruto admits, cocking his head towards Sasuke with a playful smile, “but I mean it. This one was good. Really.”

Eyes closed, Sasuke makes a soft hum, readjusting the pillow in his arms. He lowers his cheek against the pillow, hiding the right side of his face as he opens his eyes.

“So...” Naruto props his chin on his forearm. “As long as you plan on keeping up with this whole not talking to me thing, it still means you’re not, not kissing me, though, right?”

At first, Sasuke doesn’t answer, but then he starts to crack this barely there indulgent smile. “...yeah, Naruto.”

“Just wanted to make sure.” Naruto grins. “Seeing that I really like kissing you, I don’t want you to stop kissing me because of something like this, okay.”

When Sasuke doesn’t say anything, gently, Naruto prods an exposed cheek. “The old pervert knowing about your paintings, that is okay, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t okay.”

“No, you just stopped talking to me.” Naruto snorts. “Even though you already have some exposure, because the pervert knows a lot of people that are into the more traditional stuff, I thought you’d be happy about this. I can’t be excited for the both of us all the time, you know. It doesn’t work like that.”

“You told me,” Sasuke says slowly, “while we were in the middle of having sex, you told me your uncle—the same uncle you always accuse of being a dirty old man and the reason why you’re such a pervert now—wanted me to be part of a book he was working on with a friend. Tell me, Naruto. How was I supposed to react?”

“Well, when you put it that way, since most of his books are pretty much perverted memoirs, it almost sounds like I was telling you he wanted you to join a thr—”

Sasuke reaches to tug on Naruto’s ear. Hard.

“Owowow—okay, I get it, I get it. It sounds bad, really bad—I get it.” Squinting, Naruto lets out an irritated huff when Sasuke releases his ear. “...I don’t remember it coming out like that, though. Seriously. Whatever came out, that’s not what I was trying to say, obviously, but I only decided to bring it up then because it’s easier to talk to you about your paintings when you’re more...you know,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Annoyance taking up the form of a half-hearted glare, Sasuke flicks Naruto’s shoulder. “Doesn’t matter what you were trying to say. It’s what you ultimately did say.”

“Except you’re not me. You wouldn’t be so quick to jump to the wrong kind of conclusion. I know what I said isn’t what got you upset, so I still don’t get why you stopped talking to me. I mean, I tell you Jiraiya knows people who just happen to know other people who are really big on the kinds of things you’re really good at doing, and suddenly you go all shy on me.”

“Shy, Naruto?”

“All right, maybe not the normal people kind of shy—since apparently you can’t be normal like normal people. But the special kind of Sasuke shy that usually involves you putting me in the kinds of situations I generally consider unfavourable to my overall wellbeing whenever you’re embarrassed.”

Sasuke glances to the side, mouth pressed against the pillow muffling his voice. “You’re an embarrassing guy.”

“See? Like that,” Naruto says, smiling at Sasuke’s expression. “But if that’s the case this time, then it just makes me feel like you can’t accept me helping you.

“Even though my uncle came to me about the idea, I’d still like to think I’m entitled to do this kind of thing for you, to do what I can for you. Taking care of you, I don’t really get a chance to do it. And I like doing things for you. Not because I think you need me to do things for you, but because I want to do things for you. It’s just harder when you won’t let—”

Teeth lightly skimming across Naruto’s bottom lip, slowly, Sasuke begins to pull away. “I won’t let you what?” he breathes, coarse strands unravelling from his finger as it follows the hair trailing along the side of Naruto’s face.

“...kissing me like that without warning, Sasuke, now I just feel like you’re trying to distract me.”

Sasuke gives him this amused little smile. “You’re the one who can’t even take care of yourself.”

Laying an arm over Sasuke’s pillow, Naruto returns the smile with a sly one of his own. “That’s what I have you for.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. It is. And the sex, too. Although that’s probably because it’s the one thing you’ll actually let me get away with.”

Sasuke snorts.

“Don’t pretend you don’t like me.”

“I never said I liked you.”

“Come on, Sasuke,” Naruto says, hand making a brief sweeping motion at himself, “what isn’t there to like about all of _this_?”

“What is there?”

“You always say the nicest things, don’t you.”

“Acting as if I like you, there’s nothing nice about that. There’s nothing I should like about a loser like you.”

“What if I gave you the best reason of them all,” Naruto says, “would that be enough for you to like me then?”

“...depending on what it is.”

A smile is quick to spread across Naruto’s face. “Remember earlier, when you asked me if I had anything else to do?”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. “You were staring at me.”

Naruto lets out a low chuckle, reaching up with a palm that curves around the back of Sasuke’s neck. “Okay, yeah, I’ll cough up to that,” he says, fingers absently playing with the hair still not fully dry at Sasuke’s nape, “but you know why I said no?”

Eyes soft, Sasuke allows Naruto to bring him closer “...why?”

“Because being here with you,” Naruto whispers, his lips a bare brush against Sasuke’s mouth, “I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.”

With a scowl, Sasuke shoves Naruto away. He grabs the oversized pillow, misusing it to repeatedly smack a shamelessly grinning Naruto who can’t stop laughing behind the arms he holds up to protect his face from Sasuke’s assault.

“What? Saying that kind of thing to you, I can’t help it if it’s true.”

“You corny _idiot_!”


	24. Give Your Smile to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“The last time I let you finish that kind of irresponsible train of thought, you tried to sing to me.” ___

Two beers in hand, Naruto places the bottles on the coffee table, next to the bowl of caramel popcorn and the Doraemon mug nearly full of Sasuke’s tea still steeping.

“So...”

Sasuke continues to sketch, not looking up as Naruto plops down beside him. Bright orange mechanical pencil in hand, fingers smudged with graphite and blue ink direct swift motions across an imaginary landscape, recreating a wide scope of mountains overlooking a vast sea in the middle of a storm.

“There’s something I’ve been putting a lot of thought into lately.”

Turning his black sketchbook sideways, Sasuke shifts a little, keeping his legs crossed and leaning his elbow against the left arm of the couch. He still doesn’t acknowledge Naruto, focused on the sketch slowly beginning to come to life.

“Taking you to Mobara, introducing you to my family...”

Casual, bringing his right foot over his left knee, Naruto clears his throat. Following a short pause, including Sasuke’s lack of response, he does it again. Then again. And again. After clearing his throat for a fifth time, finally, Sasuke acknowledges his existence.

“Yes, I am ignoring you on purpose.”

The sound of Naruto sucking his teeth cuts through the repetitive music from the TV playing in the background. “Pretending I’m not here, that kind of method, there’s no way you still think it’d ever work on me.”

Loosening his hold on the pencil’s barrel, Sasuke begins to add more detail, lightly shading to define the smaller mountains farther off in the distance. “Unless you want to extend your rental fee for a movie we aren’t even watching...”

Naruto mimics Sasuke’s bored tone. He makes a few faces, sticking out his tongue for good measure. “Anyway, like I was saying, since the day after the thirteenth is next Tue—”

“Here’s where I’m going to be generous and do you a favour.” Gaze fixed on his sketch, Sasuke pauses, teeth dragging along the corner of his bottom lip. His thumb taps twice the top of his pencil with two quick clicks pushing lead through the other end. “Whatever it is you’re thinking—no.”

Naruto scrunches his nose, right foot falling to the cushion and pressed against his inner thigh as the upper half of his body turns towards Sasuke. “You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“You want to make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day. That’s all I need to know.”

“What’s wrong with wanting to do something roman—”

“No.”

“Tch. If you’d just let me fini—”

“The last time I let you finish that kind of irresponsible train of thought, you tried to sing to me.” Sasuke lifts his gaze, glare pronounced and not the least bit close to forgiving. “You even _think_ to pull that kind of shit with me again, Naruto, and I guarantee you will be spending the rest of your life alone.”

Naruto shoves at Sasuke’s knee with his leg. “You stingy bastard, I was the one freezing my ass off after I gave you my—”

Shoving him back, Sasuke scoffs, closing the sketchbook and slipping the clip of his pencil onto the spiral binding. “Only because it made you stop screeching at me with that Yamashita song.”

“...I don’t think my singing’s that bad,” Naruto mumbles, glancing towards the wall, at the photo of him and a Sasuke struggling not to smile standing on the pier in the foreground of the Shinshibaura Canal.

“You’re right.” Sasuke agrees with an absent hum. “It’s much worse.”

“You’re just saying that because I didn’t stop laughing when I said your face was starting to look like a toma—”

“Out of second-hand embarrassment for someone so blatantly tone-deaf. Making such a scene in public like that...”

“Spending Christmas Eve in Shibaura, you can’t tell me you weren’t—”

“Forget it.” Thin lips draw into a firm line, and there’s a slight hunch to Sasuke’s back as he folds his arms over the sketchbook in his lap. “You know I’m not—”

“Yeah, I know, I know.” Smile coaxing, Naruto lifts Sasuke’s face with both palms rubbing circles against squished cheeks. “I don’t go for that type of stuff, either. Mostly. But celebrating this kind of couple’s occasion together for the first time, it’ll be fun. Promise.”

“You keep saying that about too many things.”

“Because it will be. Fun, that is. And you usually end up going along with what I say anyway, eventually, so I don’t see why you won’t save us both the trouble and just give in now.”

Sasuke pushes away the hands holding his face. “What part of no,” he says, carefully removing Naruto’s glasses, with the bend of thin, dark red frames held between two fingers, “do you not understand?”

“Eh, sometimes it’s really hard to tell with these kinds of things concerning someone like you.”

Giving him this resigned sort of expectant look, Sasuke simply stares, only breaking the seemingly indifferent gaze when he suddenly blows air into Naruto’s right eye.

Naruto blinks once. Then two more times. “Especially when you do things like that.”

Head tilted towards him, Sasuke makes this vague little noise, not quite a yes but definitely not another no, either, so Naruto takes it as his cue to move forward, leaning closer to Sasuke, because he knows it’s only a matter of time before his very useful ability to be annoyingly persistent (or so Sasuke claims) wins out against Sasuke’s not so reluctant appearance of reluctance.

“How long have you known me, Naruto?”

“Long enough that if I buy you that really bitter dark chocolate for Valentine’s Day, you’ll buy me that fruit cream white chocolate I really like for White Day?”

At the corner of Sasuke’s mouth is the slightest little twitch. There’s this almost there, almost shy kind of smile that just about makes Naruto’s heart drop to his stomach and jump right back up to do all these crazy stupid flip-flops behind his chest.

“Or— _or_ ,” he says, raising a finger alongside the teasing glint in his eyes, “how about you buy me that really fluffy kind of chocolate for Valentine’s Day, and I’ll buy you those strawberry marshmallows you think I don’t know you secretly like for White Day.”

Gently, Sasuke places the rectangular glasses on Naruto’s face, adjusting the bridge of the frames resting on Naruto’s nose. “Spending money on those kinds of things, there’s no point.”

Naruto grins, stretching his left arm behind Sasuke and letting it hang over the back of the couch. “Then maybe you could just let me be your Valentine.”

Head thrown back, lying on top of Naruto’s arm, Sasuke makes another little noise, this time more of a groan that doesn’t exactly not sound like exasperation, giving the impression there’s probably something unflattering about Naruto’s intelligence floating around in his head. “Isn’t it enough that you never leave me alone?”

“Being around you so much, being able to bother you like this, because I have the chance to do it now...” Naruto blushes with a nervous laugh. He stares at the various ink pens scattered on the coffee table, rubbing the heel of his palm along the fabric of his pants. “Sometimes, I, uh...I get this really strong feeling—sort of like this...this _need_ to try to make up for all that time before I met you, even though I already know I’ll never be able to, so...”

“...admitting to that kind of thing so readily,” Sasuke murmurs, looking away when Naruto raises his head to watch him. Sitting up, he reaches for the sketchbook that nearly falls to the floor. He slides out the pencil tucked inside the spine and opens the sketchbook to a blank page. Flipping the barrel between two fingers, he pokes Naruto’s nose with the small eraser white save for the few marks barely showing signs of use. “Who knows what I should do with such a forward guy.”

Again, Naruto blinks, eyes tracing the light grey lines following the path of the pencil now being led across paper. “What was that for?”

Gaze lowered, Sasuke keeps his attention on his sketchbook, profile partially hidden by dark hair, but then this smug little grin starts to surface when he pushes the hair away from his face. “I won’t go through the trouble of buying something I already know how to make. It’s a waste of—”

“Homemade chocolate?” Despite the very noticeable tic forming over Sasuke’s left eye, Naruto’s already wide smile continues to grow as he scoots closer to him. “Really? Since it’s the thought that counts, I wouldn’t mind risking food poisoning for this kind of rare proposal from you, but you’ll really make me—”

“Who said I’d give you homemade chocolate?” Lips pursed, Sasuke turns narrowed eyes on Naruto, the dig about his occasionally questionable cooking skills all but forgotten. “Making that kind of assumption on your own, I said I wasn’t going to buy chocolate for you. Not buying chocolate doesn’t necessarily mean I’d actually—”

“Too late.” With mock concern, Naruto shakes his head. He consoles Sasuke with a couple pats on the shoulder, cautiously removing his hand when Sasuke gives him this incredibly grumpy look. “Can’t take back what you already said.” 

Annoyed glance replacing the glare, Sasuke leans forward, setting his sketchbook and pencil on the coffee table in exchange for the mug of tea he picks up with both hands. “You’re looking too deeply into the situation.”

“It’s okay. For your sake, I can pretend to be surprised.” 

Taking a small sip, wary, Sasuke peers at him from over the rim of the Doraemon mug. “Sitting so close to me while wearing that kind of shameless expression...”

Naruto reaches for both bottles of beer. Tipping one upside down, holding it by the neck, then uses the sharp edge of the undercarriage to pop off the other bottle’s cap. “You shouldn’t say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Anything that involves you is a bad thing.” Sasuke takes another sip of his tea, completely unmoved as they both watch the beer cap fly to the other side of the room and hit the wall. “And you couldn’t use the bottle opener because...”

“And pass on the chance to show off? Come on, Sasuke.” Grin on the far side of disarming, Naruto sets down the other beer. Grabbing the remote with his free hand, he lies back on the couch, stretching his legs and propping his feet on the edge of the coffee table. “Displaying my skill with that kind of technique, even you have to admit it was cool.”

“I didn’t know being able to open a bottle could be considered a skill.”

“Like you weren’t impressed.”

Leaning against him, Sasuke snorts, but there’s still this tiny little smile he tries to hide behind the mug he raises to his mouth, the same shy kind of smile that only serves to further encourage Naruto’s grin at the half-hearted nudge from Sasuke’s fingers pressing into his side. “Just start the movie.”


	25. I Just Wanna Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“The only medicine I need is you."_

The number seventy in the lower right hand corner marks the page where Sasuke slips a torn sheet of paper jagged along its side, holding his place in the worn anthology frayed and coming undone at the seams of the spine.

Stretched out on the couch, he sits up, folding his legs beneath and holding the book in his lap, frowning at the sight of Naruto stepping out of the hallway. “I thought you were sleeping?”

“...tired of sleeping all day.” Naruto shuffles into the middle of living room, stilled by a hacking cough that only sounds a little less cringe worthy than it did this morning. He gives a few pats to his chest, forcing out another cough that sounds as congested the first. “I don’t like being sick.”

“That’s nice.” Leaning over the edge of the couch, Sasuke reaches for the can of Perrier on the floor. He pulls back the tab, a fine mist of bubbles tickling his nose as he swallows a generous sip of water. “Now go be sick somewhere else.”

“Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to offer to take care of me?” An oversized pillow clutched at his side, Naruto brings closer around him the large fleece blanket pulled over his head, covered from head to knee in bright orange that clashes with messy tufts of blond hair sticking out from beneath the blanket framing his face.

“Coming across so pitiful because of a cold, giving me that look, what kind of self-respecting man are you?”

Naruto just sniffs. “ _Sasuke_...”

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke places his water on the table. “Come here, you baby.” The book in his lap he sets aside, tucks it between the cushion and arm rest to make room for Naruto on the couch.

“Treating me so poorly after leaving me by myself all day...”

“My schedule doesn’t revolve around you.” Right arm raised midair, elbow bent, Sasuke watches Naruto settle against his side, patient as the upper half of the oversized pillow being fluffed spills into his lap. “Not having any classes today, be appreciative you didn’t have to go through the trouble of getting a doctor’s note.”

“You remember that the next time you’re sick, and you want me to take care of you.”

Sasuke lowers his arm. “Okay.”

“I’m serious,” Naruto says, haphazardly sprawled, tangled within the blanket, lying on his back and taking up as much space as humanly possible. Laying his head in Sasuke’s lap, he brings up his knee of the foot planted on the cushion, his other leg lifted and draped over the back of the couch.

“Mm-hm.” Hand slipping beneath a grey a-shirt, gently, Sasuke begins to massage Naruto’s chest, fingers applying a slight pressure across his sternum.

“...oh, yeah.” Eyes closing, Naruto makes a low noise almost a purr, a deep rumble that travels through warm skin and becomes a tingle at the tips of Sasuke’s fingers. “Right there. That...that feels good.”

“You want to take some more medicine?”

Naruto peers up with eyes half-lidded, drawn on his face slightly flushed a drowsy smile Sasuke can’t fully blame on the medicine he gave Naruto earlier. “The only medicine I need is you,” is a soft murmur, stuck around that same inane smile, but the smile disappears beneath a grimace when Naruto starts to cough again.

He turns on his side, knee dropped closer to his chest, leg falling from the back of the couch and shoulders hunched.

“Saying that kind of thing even with a cold...” Sasuke sighs, inhaling the faint smell of methanol as his fingers absently run through blond hair. Gradually, his hand moves lower, kneading the back of Naruto’s neck. “You’re such an impossible guy.”

Leaning into Sasuke’s touch, Naruto moans, left arm reaching to hold Sasuke’s waist. “...I don’t like being sick,” he mutters, a little hoarse. His other arm curls around the lower half of the pillow, and he extends both legs, one stretched out uneven over the right arm rest.

“Go back to sleep then.”

“Sleeping all day makes you even more tired at night. Did you know that?” Following another groan, Naruto shifts again, pulling himself closer to Sasuke. “Did I already say how much I don’t like being—wait, are these...are these my pants?”

A finger and thumb reach to tug at the soft red material of the hem revealing Sasuke’s ankle. “These are my pants, aren’t they. Why are—you know how long I’ve been looking for these?”

“I’m surprised you noticed.”

“Being sick doesn’t mean I can’t recognise my own pants,” Naruto mumbles into the pillow. He turns his head to face Sasuke. “Then what makes you doing this sort of thing even worse, you like to make me wash whatever you steal, since you’re the kind of guy too lazy to wear your clothes.” 

“You must not be that sick if you still have this much energy to complain.”

Naruto sniffs, finger poking Sasuke’s hip. “I’m starting to feel better,” he says, although Sasuke keeps to himself how awful Naruto’s cough still sounds. “That citrus aloe stuff you bought helped a little. You could have warned me it had pulp in it, though.” He scrunches his nose then shudders. “There should be a ban on putting pulp in juice. I don’t know how you can drink it like that.”

Sasuke makes a soft noise, rearranging the blanket over Naruto and pulling it up to his chest.

“What’re you still doing up, anyway?”

“Reading Akutagawa.”

“Oh.” Tightening his hold around him, closing his eyes, Naruto begins to nod off. “You’re still on that? I’d think you read all that guy’s stories by now.” 

“Blame Kakashi.” Sasuke grunts, reaching for the book beginning to dig into his thigh. “Giving me the book was his idea of a bribe, but I’m trying to decide if it’s worth putting up with him for another term. It’s bad enough I have to deal with him outside of class as much as I do.”

Naruto smiles, an already soft expression seemingly made softer by his eyes still closed. “...I didn’t know you liked him so much.”

Whether he’s referring to Akutagawa or Kakashi, Sasuke doesn’t ask. Reaching around Naruto, elbow laid over his side, he opens the anthology of short stories. The scrap piece of paper marking his place on page seventy, he moves it to the back of the book and picks up where he left off on _Akiyama_.

He listens to Naruto breathe, continues to read as the rise and fall of Naruto’s chest begins to slow. In the quiet that settles in the room, halfway through the story, he flips another page. It doesn’t take much longer, however, before the arm around his waist becomes lax and the abrupt sound of loud snoring breaks through the silence.

There’s a low rustle as Naruto’s other hand falls off the seat of the couch, fingers almost but not quite touching the floor.

Looking down, Sasuke lets out a soft snort. Cheek squished against the pillow, mouth ajar and nose tinged red, it’s the same unattractive image of Naruto he left with this morning, the same face a constant image in the back of his mind all day, and he bites at the corner of his lip, turning back to his book when his teeth fail to curb a tiny smile.


	26. In This World Together With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I’ve never seen this possessive side of you before."_

“Why do you always have to be so annoying?”

“I’m not being annoying. I’m trying to be realistic here. Seriously, what if he calls me first? You actually expect me _not_ to answer him?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Block his number. There’s no reason for him to call you.”

Slowly, Naruto’s mouth begins to curl into a smile. “You really do have a complex, don’t you?”

Legs supporting both elbows, Sasuke drops his head, hiding his face behind his hands, but they do little to stifle a loud groan that sounds suspiciously close to being a threat promising bodily harm.

“I’ve never seen this possessive side of you before,” Naruto whispers, lowering his mouth to hover near Sasuke’s ear despite the elbow that half-heartedly tries to nudge him away. “It’s a very new thing to me.”

“...shut up, Naruto.”

Sitting up, Naruto laughs. “And here I thought you’d be happy with the two of us getting along.”

“Not over something like this,” Sasuke hisses. He lets his arms fall, lifting his head with narrowed eyes all but boring holes into Naruto’s skull. “I’m serious. You’re not allowed to speak to him anymore.”

“But this whole possibility-of-you-still-being-hung-up-on-your-first-crush thing...”

“Just...just stop.” Sasuke grits his teeth, the faint flush colouring his face not hidden by the shade from the trees high above them. “Stop talking.”

Since Sasuke’s left eye hasn’t started twitching yet, Naruto knows it’s still safe to talk. Not to say he would’ve kept silent even if the telltale twitch made an appearance. The art of teasing Sasuke is a difficult skill he’s worked hard to perfect, very hard in fact, jumping on every chance to improve, and he can’t help the grin that only continues to grow at the blush totally ruining Sasuke’s glare.

“I mean, the idea of you wanting to spend the rest of your life with someone who’s not me, I’m still trying to decide whether or not I should be concerned about the nature of this confession.”

“I was five. And it was—he was...” Shifting on the bench, Sasuke reaches for the plastic fork sticking out from the disposable takeout container in Naruto’s lap. He stabs at the only piece of spicy barbecue chicken not drenched in mayonnaise and stuffs the bite-sized portion in his mouth, both cheeks bloated like one of those pet chipmunks Naruto used to imitate as a kid that one time he spent a few weeks with his uncle in Hokkaido.

Taking too long to chew, finally, Sasuke swallows with a defeated sigh. “I was five,” he murmurs, head held high while pointedly looking away.

Naruto snorts, resting his face against Sasuke’s shoulder when his body starts to shake trying to hold back another series of snickers he ends up letting out anyway. “It’s cute, though. In a really weird and creepy kind of way, I guess,” he says, laughing at Sasuke’s pinched expression as he raises his head alongside the finger that pokes Sasuke’s cheek. “But thinking of a little version of you going around confessing that you wanted to marry Itachi when you grew up...”

“I can’t believe he told you that. He wasn’t supposed to tell anybody that.” Sasuke drops his fork back into the takeout box. “Nobody outside of our family’s supposed to know about that.”

“When it comes to learning embarrassing things about you,” Naruto says, wiggling his eyebrows, “I think I’ve earned the right to be the exception by now.”

Closing his eyes, Sasuke lets out another groan.

Naruto pops a piece of chicken in his mouth, licking the excess mayonnaise near the corner of his bottom lip with a grin. “He started telling me about how you used to follow him around all the time, doing things like making him burnt food, rushing to get home from school so you could be the first one to meet him when he got back. And that note you left on his desk, the one saying you were doing your best to take care of your big brother, preparing to spend the rest of your life with him.”

“After spending four years studying here, you would think you’d want to live to see your own graduation.”

“The real kicker, though, the day your Aunt Kayou got remarried for the first time, right after the wedding, he said Tamaki was the one who suggested you guys should get married, too, because Sai scared you both into believing that if you didn’t map out your future by the time you were six, on your sixth birthday, in the middle of the night, that Orochi dragon was going to come and eat you. S-so—so, even though Itachi tried to explain why you didn’t need to marry him and Tamaki didn’t need to marry Kagami—and even after Sai got in trouble for what he did, you guys still wouldn’t sleep without one of your mom’s combs under your pillow for a month. A _month_. Someone like you, I never would have thought you used to be so superstitious.”

Ignoring Sasuke’s dark look growing increasingly darker, fanning his face with one hand, Naruto takes a few seconds to breathe, chest heaving beneath the strain of laughing too hard. “But oh—oh, this part right here, when Itachi told me how you guys tried to get your mom to help you find a wedding planner that would accept to plan two weddings with a budget of the couple thousand yen you both had saved up, some holographic Yu Yu Hakusho and Sailor Moon trading cards, and one of your aunt’s talking cats—now that was just price—”

With a mortified scowl, Sasuke gives Naruto a hard shove, almost making him fall off the bench. “Stop it already.”

“Hey, hey, watch out for the food, all right.” On the verge of cracking up again, Naruto readjusts the takeout box in his lap, folding over the lid to close it and setting it to the side. “I know you bought it, but I can’t afford to waste really good Korean barbecue. Especially when it’s your fault for getting me addicted to this stuff in the first place.”

“Naruto...”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Naruto’s still smiling, though, and he gives Sasuke a playful nudge with his shoulder. “As long as you promise not to leave me and go running off after Itachi. I don’t think Mei would be too happy with that, either. You know. Since she’s his fiancée and all.”

Again, Sasuke groans, mumbling beneath his breath something Naruto doesn’t catch. “...like you never did anything embarrassing at that age.”

“Well, actually...” Naruto laughs, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. “Don’t tell anyone this, but when I was six, there was, uh—hehe, there was this one time my dad caught me trying on my mom’s clothes.”

An eyebrow rises with Sasuke’s mock questioning look that’s more teasing than anything else. “Something you want to tell me?”

Naruto grins wide, if not a little bit smug. “You already know I’m _all_ man under this.”

With a snort, Sasuke rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t try to hide the small smile that slips through.

“It wasn’t like I could actually fit the clothes or anything. My mom said my dad started freaking out, but she thought it was cute. Even helped me get into one of these really pretty dresses she’d brought back from Italy. She still has the pictures she took, too. Sakura and Ino used to make fun of me for it, after they found the pictures while they were going through our photo albums for some school thing.” A thoughtful expression crosses his face, and Naruto gives a simple shrug. “It’s not so embarrassing anymore, though. Looking back, I’m okay with it now. I was just doing the kind of thing kids do at that age, so...”

“No. In your case, it just proves you’ve been depraved since you were that young.” 

“All of a sudden you think I’m depraved?” Scooting closer, Naruto leans over for a kiss Sasuke draws back from. “What?”

A finger trailing beneath Naruto’s chin, Sasuke tips Naruto’s head back a little, then slowly, ridiculously slow, he begins to pull his hand away.

Licking his lips, Naruto takes a quick look around the expansive park. Surveying the surrounding trees, he follows the fence made of short wooden posts bordering the wide paved walkway leading past the lake, settling his gaze back on Sasuke. “We’re not in public if it’s just us.” A small frown turns down the corners of his mouth. “Being alone like this, you never had a problem kissing me before.”

There’s a slight tilt to his head as Sasuke pushes away the hair framing the side of his face, giving him the tiniest little grin. “Because your mouth didn’t reek of kimchi mayonnaise then.”

Returning the grin with a smile, Naruto relaxes into a comfortable slump against the back of the bench. He scratches the side of his nose with a finger. “So it’s like that, huh?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Well, if that’s the way it’s going to be...” Gaze darting to the side, in a careless gesture, Naruto draws out a long sigh, stretching out both arms and folding them behind his head. “Then I guess I shouldn’t mention that Itachi told me about the time you were four, when you took out your paint set and painted your whole face white and blue after your parents took you to see that Yoshitsune play with the fox guy, because you were seriously convinced you wanted to be a kabuki dan—”

He’s cut short by the firm grip from the fingers clutching the front of his shirt and pulling him forward, without thinking leaning toward the low voice that somehow still sounds too far away despite the feeling of being unbearably close when Sasuke’s breath tickles the skin right above his upper lip.

“Do you really have to be so annoying?” Dark eyes watch him, half-lidded, real soft, bearing the reserved kind of fond look Naruto’s already so familiar with that still has the power to make him a little more dazed than he’d like to admit.

But his mouth acts on its own accord, quick to breach the short distance between them, meeting Sasuke’s lips to steal a kiss that leaves Sasuke blinking in surprise. “Yeah,” he breathes, grins and leans in again with a hand over the side of Sasuke’s face that brings him close and continues to hold him even him closer. “...I do.”


	27. It's Alright if It's You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"What does Kiba have to do with wanting me to—why I am even trying to turn this into a discussion? I am not sitting on you."_

Soft, his knuckles rap on the wood, an intended series of four knocks interrupted mid-sequence by the abrupt opening of the door revealing Shikamaru standing on the other side.

Lowering his arm, Sasuke looks up. He blinks, taking in the dark circles beneath Shikamaru’s eyes, the drawn and worn-out expression that has to be from more than simply a lack of sleep. “...hey.”

After a quick glance at his watch, Shikamaru mutters a curse. His elbow moves aside the small duffel bag thrown over his shoulder, while a hand reaches to dig in the back pocket of his jeans for a pack of Black Black gum. He pulls out the last stick and tears it open.

There’s a faint smell of mint when he puts the gum in his mouth. It lingers as he crumples in his hand the wrapper and the empty package, stuffing both back into his pocket.

“Is everything...” The clear agitation’s a rare display, atypical of a normally composed Shikamaru to appear so distracted, and Sasuke’s fingers tug on the drawstrings draped over the front of his left shoulder, rustling the black and yellow sack pack lying against his back. “You’re not leaving because I—”

“Oh, it’s—no.” Suddenly stiff, it takes a moment or two for Shikamaru to allow the tension to ease from his body. “No, it’s not that. Nothing to do with that. Didn’t mean to make you think—” A finger and thumb rise to pinch the bridge of his nose, following the click of his tongue, and the beginnings of a frown are replaced with a smile stretched too tight. “It’s not that serious. Family stuff, I guess I should say.”

Sasuke gives a slow nod. “Ah.” 

“Just frustrated right now. So it’s not—” Shikamaru drops his arm, letting out a soft snort that almost turns into a laugh. “I wouldn’t even have the energy to deal with that guy back there if he ever thought I—well, between him and the other one, my family may actually be the lesser of two evils.”

Sasuke glances to the side, far from inclined to disagree through the smile he tries to stem. “Wouldn’t doubt it.”

From inside the apartment Naruto calls out to Shikamaru, accusing him of spreading inappropriate lies that aren’t true, then cutting himself off halfway through his own tirade to ask who’s at the door.

The smile on Shikamaru’s face is a gradual set to his features, a shrewd look almost sly alongside his tone an amused drawl. “Who else are you expecting?”

A noticeable strain seeps into Naruto’s raised voice, lends a gruff quality to the words seized by low, intermittent grunts. “Sasuke’s here already?”

Nearly taking up the entirety of the threshold, Shikamaru continues to hold Sasuke’s questioning stare, but it’s Naruto he decides to answer. “A hopeless guy like you, as much of a pain as it is to admit,” he says, with a quick glance behind him from over his shoulder, “I’m starting to think Kiba was right about the key. It’s a wonder you haven’t given one to—”

There’s a shrill screech and a heavy thump, both drowned out by the loud cry from Naruto demanding to know why Shikamaru isn’t not here and not in other places where he really needs to be, promising to kick his too meddlesome ass if he doesn’t get out of the way and stop keeping Sasuke from coming in.

Not quite frowning, Sasuke gives Shikamaru a strange look, eyes slightly narrowed wary at the humour in Shikamaru’s expression.

Shikamaru simply shrugs, though, retaining a trace of a knowing smile despite the more obvious reluctance that begins to settle as he steps into the hallway to allow Sasuke through. “Listen, I probably won’t be back until Monday. Tuesday at the latest, maybe.”

Not wanting to make him any more uncomfortable, because he doesn’t want to seem intrusive, Sasuke doesn’t pry, curiosity set aside at the grateful look he receives in return. He’ll ask Naruto about it later. “Anything you need for me to take care of while you’re gone?”

Shikamaru begins to say something but then seems to think better of it, adjusting the strap of his duffel bag. “Just make sure Naruto doesn’t eat me out of house and home. Since he tends to forget I live here, too. But you’ll do that anyway, so...”

Head and shoulder leaned against the doorframe, Sasuke snorts, folding his arms over his middle and crossing one leg in front of the other. “Still haven’t figured out where he puts it.”

That knowing smile makes another appearance, and Shikamaru shakes his head, turning his face from view. Heading towards the stairs, he raises two fingers in the air, leaving Sasuke behind him with a lazy salute. “See you.”

When Shikamaru reaches the end of the hall, Sasuke pushes away from the doorframe and enters the apartment. The door closes with a soft click, and he locks it with the thumbturn on the knob. Still facing the entryway, he carefully takes off his shoes, placing them neatly beside Naruto’s running shoes haphazardly thrown against the wall.

“You do know I could hear the two of you badmouthing me from all the way in here, right.”

“And?”

“And, he says. _And_.” Naruto scoffs. “That really the best you can come up with?”

“The only thing I need when it comes to you. What are you even doing that’s making you sound so...” One foot out of the entryway, Sasuke pauses, kept still at the sight of a shirtless Naruto in the middle of the living room, body a long straight line balanced between his feet and one hand supporting his weight while pushing his chest away from the floor.

It isn’t that he hasn’t seen Naruto without a shirt before. He’s seen him without a shirt numerous times. Maybe too many times considering how often Naruto’s liable to take off his shirt after finishing one of his routine morning jogs he’s somehow been able to drag Sasuke along to every once in a while.

So it’s not something to be entirely unexpected.

Or at least it wouldn’t be if this wasn’t the first time he’d seen Naruto without a shirt since coming to terms with the fact his attraction to him had long ago diverged from a simple emotional appeal.

The initial animosity of their relationship left him unprepared for any level of physical attraction, much less his sudden appreciation of Naruto’s back, mentally tracing with his eyes along the sharp motions of taut lines muscles pulsating beneath skin slick with sweat, teeth scraping across the corner of his lower lip at the deep resonance of Naruto’s murmurs uncharacteristically low counting from twenty-six to thirty-two, so stupidly transfixed by something as mundane as Naruto doing push-ups, and Sasuke starts at the realisation he’s staring.

He’s actually _staring_.

Fortunately, Naruto’s too absorbed on maintain good form to notice, one arm held steady behind his back, intent on making sure his chin touches the floor with the audible tally of each slow rep. Either that, or he really is as oblivious as he sometimes seems, which, for once, works in Sasuke’s favour.

“You done posturing?”

“That, uh...depends.” Another grunt, and again Naruto begins to lower his body to the floor, lifting himself back up with a far too confident grin turned Sasuke’s way. “You impressed yet?”

“By you?” Leaving the entryway, Sasuke walks into the living area, stepping over a half-empty water bottle and a rumpled black t-shirt turned inside out. “Hardly.”

“Way to bring down a guy’s self-esteem.”

“Like I could ever put a dent in your overinflated ego.”

“Still nothing compared to yours, but yeah,” Naruto admits, facing forward, breath drawn long through an exhale, “only because I already know you don’t mean it.”

Sasuke snorts. He pulls the sack pack from over his shoulder and places it down beside the large beanbag chair sat against the wall. “You can read minds now?”

“Nah, I just happen to know you.”

The easy conviction almost makes Sasuke falter. Less because of what was said, and more so because of the underlying assurance no different from Naruto’s normal resolve.

His thumbs find their way into the front pockets of loose jeans while his shoulders bunch slightly inward, an involuntarily gesture that leaves him feeling a little too self-conscious. Looking away, he turns his gaze towards the TV, hard-pressed to hear the nearly muted voices of the two QVC announcers presenting the bag of TropicalMaria frozen mango chunks being emptied into a glass bowl.

It’s not the greatest distraction, but it’s an opportunity to look busy. It’s enough for the time being. More than enough to validate his unwillingness to be subjected to whatever movies or shows Naruto says they should watch, which he knows is a little unfair of him considering Naruto doesn’t actually watch QVC.

The channel mainly serves as background noise, because Naruto likes to claim it helps him concentrate, something he picked up when he was five, during the time his parents had to travel to Spain on short notice, leaving him in the care of an elderly woman, coincidentally a retired teacher, who apparently scarred him for life by making him practice his kana tables over and over again too many times while she just sat there on her really weird smelling chair and watched QVC all day.

_“I’m serious, Sasuke, that bossy old lady must have been pushing a hundred or something. At least. Way before the ashes, she already had one foot in the urn. I kept begging my parents to send someone to come get me because I didn’t know when she was going to croak. Especially during the middle of one of those TSV showings she always got a little too excited about, I didn’t want to take any chances.”_

A loud groan diverts his attention, and he turns back to Naruto, watching him continue another set of push-ups, this time with both hands supporting his weight.

“Do me a favour, would you,” Naruto says, pausing to widen the gap between his hands just a little. “Come sit on me.”

Sasuke nearly does a double take, nearly stumbles on the words misconstrued as something he’s already telling himself he did not hear. “...what?”

“I want you to sit on me.”

The second time can’t be a coincidence. Because it’s not. It isn’t. Inopportune, maybe, although it’s his own faulty subconscious Sasuke can’t help but blame for this increasingly reckless desire to pick apart from his conversations with Naruto numberless times more than once upon many the kinds of things crude variations of what Naruto will probably never say.

So he just gives himself another moment to recover, taking the much needed time to process the implications regarding his newly discovered attraction for Naruto in this state. Squeezing his eyes shut, slowly, _slowly_ , he breathes in. He opens his eyes as he breathes out, wilful in his ignorance of the sounds Naruto has yet to stop making and what he can only hope is an incredibly subtle appreciation of Naruto’s back, a view of Naruto he’d failed to notice until recently.

Clearly, it’s affecting his ability to think. Clearly. But he refuses to let his mind wander around someone like Naruto.

He can’t afford to let his mind wander around someone like Naruto.

“You want me,” he says, tone even, averting his gaze once more from the path along lithe muscles defining Naruto’s shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, “to sit on you.”

Naruto lets out an affirmative grunt, in a split second lifting from the floor his hands he brings together in a quick clap before beginning another set of push-ups. “Yeah. You’d be the right amount of weight. Do that whole too stretchy weird bendy thing where you get all foldy and stuff. Then I can fit you on me.”

Sasuke blinks. “...you’re an idiot.”

“I am not a—listen, I need to get the one-up on Kiba before Monday, okay, so if you could just help me out and sit on my back for a few sets, that’d be real good.”

Sasuke rubs the heel of his palm against his forehead. After so long, it’s a given he should already know better. More often than he’d like to admit, however, Naruto’s inability not to go off on some sort of tangent still tends to take him off guard. “What does Kiba have to do with wanting me to—why I am even trying to turn this into a discussion? I am not sitting on you.”

“You won’t hurt my back, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No, Naruto. I’m not worried about hurting your back. I wouldn’t bother sitting on your back if I truly wanted to hurt you.”

“Then why not?”

Sasuke gives him the driest look he can muster. “You’re really asking me that.”

Still on the balls of his feet, propped up by his elbows on the floor, Naruto raises his body to a plank position, an unwarranted glare overly critical aimed at Sasuke. “What? You think I’m not strong enough to handle your weight? That I can’t handle you on top of me because you’d be too much for me, is that it? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

Sasuke just sighs. Then he does it again. And again. Because at this point, it’s all he can do while Naruto carries on and on. Out of everything impossibly wrong with this hypothetical scenario, of course, how much weight he’s capable of bearing while doing push-ups is the one aspect Naruto would choose to take offence to.

“Because I could so totally take you right now, you know. Hold out all night long if I had to. I have more than enough staying power to keep going with your bony—”

“Are you even listening to yourself?”

“Kind of hard not to,” Naruto says, casual, not in the least fazed, “seeing that we’re the only ones here. But I really don’t see what the big deal is.”

“...tell me this is something you would ask anybody else to do. Tell me this isn’t something you would only ask me to do.”

“Eh...well, um, not really. I wouldn’t trust that. But since you _are_ here...”

“No.”

“Come on, Sasuke. It’s not like I’d let you fall or anything.”

“Why would you ask me to sit on your back at all? How are we still having a conversation about this?”

“Because you’re my best friend. As much as I’m your best friend. And this kind of thing isn’t so different from what we normally do. I mean, you can’t exactly deny that we do things like this a lot.

“Like the time Chouji took us to that really old hole in the wall bar that looked like it was going to come down any minute. The Saturday before the one last week, I think. We met up with Kenji and Sho, and all of us shared a huge bottle of that really strong whisky you couldn’t handle.”

“My alcohol tolerance is on the lower side of average. Get over it.”

“No, no, no, because for you, someone like you being such a lightweight—it wasn’t even that you drank a lot of it. But you still dropped off on the table, real quiet with your head in your arms, and the rest of us sat there for like ten or fifteen minutes trying to decide whether you were passed out or not.”

“...make your point before I do it for you.”

Hands flat less than shoulder-width apart, elbows held in, Naruto begins to push up from floor. “Yeah, like glaring at me is actually going to prevent me from talking—my point _is_ , majority rules volunteered Kiba to wake you up, except for some reason he thought it’d be a good idea to do it with a freezing can against your face—and this was right after I warned him to stop calling you Himiko, too. Then out of nowhere, suddenly, you just made a straight dive for him and tried to stab at his future little Kibas with the plastic spoon you snatched from Shikamaru.

“Naruto...”

“Oh—oh, the best part, though, here Kiba was, squeaking about how important it is for him to protect his manhood, while you were whispering all these things trying to convince him to hold still. And when you told him it didn’t matter if he’d be able to perform or not because the only steady relationship he could keep was the long-distance one with Akamaru, everybody else just fell out _laughing_. I even think Chouji was actually close to crying.”

Hair shadowing his eyes, fingers digging into his palm, Sasuke balls at his side the fist he doesn’t use to hit Naruto.

“Still don’t get how you could forget what happened, but r-remember that Monday, when Kenji teased you about changing your name to Ebichu on his phone, but wouldn’t tell you why? The whole thing’s because Shikamaru was eating raisin rum ice cream that night, that’s where Sho got the—hey, don’t look at me like it was my fault. You were the one who caused a scene that time. Matter of fact, I was the one forced to take responsibility for you and ended up having to haul your cranky half-dead ass on my back all the way down—”

“Keep talking, Naruto.” Sasuke lifts his head, teeth clenched in an attempt to keep at bay the rising embarrassment overwhelming any genuine irritation inspiring him to shake the life out of Naruto. “Keep talking, and the only part of me that’s going to be doing any sitting is my foot on your face.”

Using his hands for leverage, in one fluid motion, Naruto jumps to his feet. The thin sheen covering his face continues down to his neck, to his chest and a long torso cut off by the red track pants he wipes his hands against. Quick strides lead him to Sasuke as he tugs up the thick waistband of his pants concealing the black shorts he’s wearing underneath.

Hands on his hips, squinting, he looms closer, close enough to differentiate the random handful of strands standing out against normally unruly hair a lighter hue lying nearly flat against his scalp. “You’re the violent kind of sleepy drunk. None of that’s my fault. But asking you to sit on me, was that really such a bad thing for me to do?”

Never before has the temptation to strangle Naruto been so strong. Barely, though, just ever so barely does Sasuke resist the urge to cry out and attack him.

He settles for the twitch over his left eye instead, the same one that just as soon disappears at the light touch the back of Naruto’s hand warm against his cheek.

“...you okay?” Brows furrowed, eyes conveying a too obvious concern, Naruto frowns, pushing back dark hair and placing his hand over Sasuke’s forehead. “Your face is getting kind of red. And you’re starting to look a little constipated. You’re not coming down with something, are you?”

Whatever annoyance the open display may have provoked is waylaid the moment Sasuke suddenly becomes hyperaware of the distance that isn’t between them, the breath only just a light brush across his skin, the sweaty body all but pressed against him, and he stills, rooted to the spot, seemingly caught between Naruto precariously close and the wall he unwittingly backed himself into.

If the situation were different, if Naruto wasn’t Naruto, if he were any other person so blatantly invading his personal space, it’d be a nonissue.

But Naruto is the only person he sees, the only person he can see, the source of bare threads fostering this notion weaved and too tangled within his own self-imposed doubt, this stupid, _stupid_ fear he’ll never be able to see anyone else again after Naruto.

He can recognise that Naruto isn’t unattractive. By any standards. If he ever had to confine himself to a single type, he couldn’t say Naruto wasn’t the near epitome of it.

He’s only human.

And he’s a guy. 

Having those kinds of thoughts, even for someone as brash and impulsive as Naruto, lack of good sense aside, it’s not the worst that could happen. At best, though, it’s frustrating. Imagining the context of their relationship well beyond what they have now, wanting to initiate the serious kind of relationship he can’t be sure isn’t simply wishful thinking on his part, because he still doesn’t know if there could be a place like that for him in Naruto’s life.

It’s a far cry from what began as a fling with Suigetsu. Despite being roommates, Suigetsu’s supposed exception for him worked out to be a convenient situation. The proposition of sex with no strings attached was a good way to release the stress from those first couple of months at Tama. Yet more than a year later, even with Karin in the picture now, he’s honestly surprised he and Suigetsu remain so close.

Yet he’s so much closer with Naruto. Maybe even in too many senses of the word. However unconventional the nature of their friendship, it’s something they just are. Whatever’s between something that’s just there.

Because Naruto isn’t Suigetsu. And Sasuke doesn’t want that kind of physicality with him for the sake of it, probably even more so since sex has been one of the few consistencies in most of his relationships, convenient or otherwise.

The idea of attempting to seek that kind of intimacy from Naruto, though, in the face of a dependence on the experience he doesn’t have, this simple little yearning to build upon the familiarity already there—maybe if he just leans in a little closer, if he closes his eyes so Naruto won’t seem so far away, allows himself this one moment to be reckless, maybe he really could just—

Opening his eyes, he pushes himself from the thought, drawing back from the hand that still feels warm against his skin.

“...Sasuke?”

There’s a flash of something in Naruto’s eyes. Beneath the needless concern yet to go away is an emotion Sasuke can’t quite place, but then Naruto’s smiling again, smiling like he always does, with that same easygoing look so very undeniably _Naruto_ , and it’s ridiculous how someone who could be almost painfully straightforward could simultaneously be so hard for him to read.

“It’s nothing, Naruto.”

“You sure?”

“Stop questioning me. I’m fine. It’s just that new type of infection.”

“New type of infection? What new type of infection? I haven’t heard about this new type of infection.” Eyes slightly wide, Naruto reaches to cup Sasuke’s face, gently turning his head from side to side. “You do feel kind of warm still, but I’m not a doctor—do you think you need to go see a doctor? Let’s take you to go see a doctor.”

Sasuke pulls the hands away from his face. “No, I don’t need to see a doctor. It’ll be gone once I get rid of this annoying guy who keeps hanging off me.”

“Look, you.” Stern, or at least pretending to be, Naruto throws an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders, levelling him with a hard stare. “Don’t give me that kind of grumpy attitude when I’m trying to show you my concern.”

“Why are you standing so close to me?”

“Tch. See if I bother to be concerned about your wellbeing next time.”

“I didn’t ask for your concern this time.”

Naruto grins. “Lucky for you, I’m the kind of friend who’d make sure you’d never have to.”

The carefree admission leaves him feeling oddly subdued, and Sasuke sighs, wondering why he even lets Naruto continue to affect him to such an extent. Lifting the arm from around his shoulders, he slips out from underneath Naruto’s hold, retreating to the grey beanbag chair only a few steps away.

He makes himself at home. Soft, he breathes in, breathes out as his body begins to relax, long limbs monopolising the overgrown pillow that provides more than ample room for two people. The majority of his body nearly devoured by the lush foam padding, he peers up to see Naruto staring down at him.

“...you comfortable enough down there?”

Shifting a little, Sasuke gives a low murmur. “Didn’t stretch today.”

Naruto snorts. “I can tell.” He pulls on the lobe of his left ear, careful to avoid tugging on the small onyx hooped earring he bought last week. “Think you’re actually going to offer to share with me this time? Or do I have to make you scoot over again?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“The fact you keep throwing yourself on the comfy chair so much, I’m starting to think you’re taking advantage of my very generous generosity.”

“Is this your way of telling me to move?”

“See, here’s the part where I want to say yes, since I really should kick you off like I do everybody else, but then I know you’d probably find some way to spite me if I did, because you’re a vengeful bastard who holds grudges longer than any normal person would ever consider healthy.”

“I don’t hold grudges. I just have a highly selective memory,” Sasuke says, completely unmoved by the look of utter disbelief on Naruto’s face. “Hurry up and go change so we can start. You’re not sitting by me like that.”

“...I will never understand what kind of sense you think it makes for you to tell me how I can and can’t sit on my own furniture. In my own apartment.” Naruto plops himself on the tatami mat floor, side resting against the chair. He rubs the back of his head, extending his legs in front of him and wiggling his toes. “What’re we supposed to be watching?”

Sitting up, Sasuke reaches for the sack pack placed on the other side of the chair. He folds his legs, dropping the thin bag in his lap.

“Hey, I’ve been looking for that. I was getting ready to buy another one tomorrow, too. All this time you had my bag and you didn’t tell me?”

Loosening the drawstrings, Sasuke opens the bag, a hand inside blindly searching for the drama he brought. “You left it in my closet. It’s been sitting there taking up too much space for the past week.”

“Figures that’s the kind of response I’d get from you,” Naruto grumbles. Moving closer, he leans over the chair, forearm lying above Sasuke’s shoulder. “You could have least told me where it was.”

The DVD box-set he pulls out of the bag, Sasuke hands it to Naruto then places the sack back on the floor. “Here. We’re watching this.”

Glancing at the cover, Naruto doesn’t hide his scepticism. He takes a quick look at the front then flips it over to the back. “Iris?” 

“It’s the first part.”

“...this almost sounds like some kind of romance drama.” Naruto slowly turns towards Sasuke, eyebrows threatening to disappear into his hairline. “Don’t tell me it’s some kind of romance drama.”

Sasuke rests his cheek against the palm of his hand, head supported by his elbow propped up on the chair. “Would it matter if it was?”

“N-not that I’m saying it would. Because it wouldn’t. I’d still do it. Watch it with you, I mean, but that type of thing, I don’t really care for it. And really, even if I did, it’s not like—”

Suddenly tight-lipped, Naruto frowns in thought, eyes focused on the fading koi emblem on Sasuke’s dark blue shirt. There’s a brief pause, no longer than a second or two before he takes in a breath, releasing a deep exhale and lowering his arm to place the DVD on the floor.

“...it’s not like what, Naruto?”

Shaking his head, Naruto laughs, his smile somewhat over the top, waving a hand in front of Sasuke to brush off his concern. “Nothing, nothing. Uh, just something Kiba said to me earlier. Doesn’t matter now.”

“What’d he say?”

“Ah, nothing important that you’d care about. He was just being a smartass. Just being Kiba, you know. But, uh—Iris. Iris. You did say this wasn’t a romance drama, right?”

“...this coming from the guy who almost cried when we finished My Lovely Samsoon.”

“For the record, before you go around spreading untruths that aren’t necessarily untrue,” Naruto says, finger prodding at Sasuke’s shoulder, “you need to stop letting Karin tell you what to watch. Because you just end up making me watch it with you. Not to mention, I thought we agreed not to bring that up ever again.”

“I didn’t agree to anything. I wasn’t the one who kept flying off the handle at the screen because of that Hyun guy.”

“That’s because you’re the kind of person who could probably relate to him,” Naruto mutters.

“If telling yourself that makes you feel better.”

“...anyway, you plan on staying over tonight? Since, you know,” Naruto says, moving just a little closer, wearing the most annoying self-satisfied grin so exceedingly pleased, “you’re the one who keeps falling asleep on me every time we do this.”

He doesn’t fall asleep on Naruto every time, but he does it often enough that there’s not really much he can say in his defence anymore, so Sasuke opts for a glare. Needless to say, the effect’s been lost on Naruto for the longest time, if glaring ever had any effect on him. “Falling asleep on you doesn’t actually have anything to do with you.”

“Sure, sure. Although it’s still pretty surprising you find me so comfortable.”

The heel of his palm pressed against Naruto’s forehead, Sasuke grunts, pushing him away. “You aren’t. It’s your chair. Not you.”

“Heh.” Naruto wipes the pad of his thumb along the corner of his mouth. “How much you want to bet it is me?”

“If that’s the case, you may as well give me your wallet.”

“Oh, come on. Not even if we were the only two people in the world?”

“I’d rather sleep on Kiba’s floor.”

With a squawk, Naruto bolts upright, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Nothing short of dumbstruck.

“You better take that back, Sasuke—there’re too many things wrong with everything about that sentence, and you know it. Shikamaru would never allow me to let our place look anything like Kiba’s.” A little flustered, Naruto shakes his head, arm held out flailing in front of him. “Hell, _I_ wouldn’t allow me to let our place look like that. Me, Sasuke,” he says, further emphasising his point with a hand delivering three quick pats to his chest. “ _Me_.”

“You really aren’t that much better.”

“Don’t say that,” Naruto hisses. “Especially when you know how risky it is to stay at Kiba’s apartment for long periods of time, comparing me to a guy who’s thoughtless enough to put his own roommate on the endangered species list, that’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“No.”

“There are living things growing in that place, Sasuke. All sorts of creepy crawly living things growing in the very folds of his never washed and always used futon.”

Sasuke flicks Naruto’s arm. “You shouldn’t embellish so much.”

“Okay then, since you won’t listen to one of the few people who escaped from Kiba’s apartment and actually lived to tell the tale, when’s the last time you even went over there, huh?”

“Yesterday.”

“You went to Kiba’s place yesterday?”

“Saw Shino there, too. It looked liveable to me.”

“You came all the way over here yesterday, and you couldn’t even bother to see me?”

Sasuke rolls his eyes at the absolutely pitiable look of dejection on Naruto’s face. “Kiba called me, asking to borrow a book for class, so I offered to drop it off, since I was already getting ready to leave to meet you in Green Hall.”

“Oh, yeah. That is right, isn’t it. We did do dinner there last night.” Rubbing his chin with his forefinger and thumb, Naruto gives a slow nod. “But still, of all people, you let Kiba borrow your books? You don’t even let me borrow your books.”

“You never asked me to borrow my books.”

“And if I asked you now?”

“I’ll say you’re being too needy.”

“But didn’t you just—”

“Someone as irresponsible as you should learn to buy your own books.”

“What the—” 

Sasuke lets out a soft laugh, pushing loose strands of hair behind his ear. He rests his cheek against one arm folded on top of the other, lips pressed together to curb the small traces of a lingering smile. “Are we still watching Iris?”

“Yeah.” Naruto perks, reaching to his left to pick up the DVD. “Yeah, all that stuff about black ops and espionage, it sounds good. Really good. Definitely want to see how it goes.” He holds up the DVD, with a quick flick of his wrist pointing it at Sasuke. “I can even overlook the fact you never let me watch these things in the one language I actually understand.”

“Then put it in. Having to wait on you like this every time I come over, it’s turning into a bad habit.”

“It’s not like you couldn’t have done this yourself already,” Naruto mumbles, grunts as he begins to stand and head for the TV still showing QVC.

“Either way, you still wouldn’t be ready.”

“But you’ll wait for me, though, right?” Naruto places the first disc in the tray, closing the box-set and laying it on top of the DVD player. “When I take too long, even though I don’t mean to, you’ll still stay, won’t you?”

With a sigh, Sasuke tears his gaze from Naruto’s back, looking up to the nondescript light fixture hanging from a plain white ceiling. “After going through the hassle of coming all the way out here...”

Naruto turns to face Sasuke, chuckles low as he pulls down the waistband of his pants he begins to step out of, exposing knee-length shorts. “Just bear with me for a little while longer, okay.”

“How much longer?” Sasuke wrinkles his nose. “The smell’s starting to permeate.”

Pants bundled under one arm, wry, Naruto just stares at him. “Look. I’ve been training with Kiba for who knows how long today, busting my ass trying to get ready for this marathon since I didn’t get a chance to do the one last year. So yeah. I’ve been sweaty all day. And I just might smell a little. What else do you expect?”

“It’s not a little.”

Naruto snorts, raising his free arm above his head. “Can’t be that bad if you didn’t say anything be—” Hunched forward, his features distort in exaggerated horror as he starts to cough, expression continuing to sour with a stream of gagging noises. “Okay, seriously, you should have said something about this before.”

“You shouldn’t have made me wait this long.”

“Che. And you call me impatient. It’ll take me what—five minutes tops? Give a guy some time, would you?” Naruto gathers his pants in one hand and chucks across the other side of the room.

Following the flight of the pants, Sasuke watches them land on top of the small mound of clothes piled beneath the large poster of Plastic Tree. He looks back to Naruto, lips pursed at the too wide smile Naruto’s unable to hold back. “No.”

“What?” Naruto yields with both hands raised in front of him in a placating gesture. “I didn’t even say anything.”

“You don’t say anything about the clothes that mysteriously appear in my hamper, either.”

“Yeah, those.” Naruto’s eyes dart to the TV, finger scratching the side of his head. “There’s just something about the way you wash my clothes.”

“You’re too lazy to wash them yourself, you mean.”

“Sure.” Naruto shrugs, breaking into another smile. “That might be it, too.”

Sasuke snorts.

“But you do know that pile’s only there because Shikamaru’ll be gone for the weekend, right?”

“For his sake, I’m almost tempted to bag your clothes and throw them out with the trash.”

Naruto sniffs. “Why am I suddenly getting the feeling you like him more than me?”

“Because I appreciate being able to hold conversations that don’t threaten to lower my intelligence.”

Naruto’s mouth opens then snaps closed. He pauses, frowning at the floor before looking back to Sasuke. “Now that’s just downright mean.”

“As mean as you are for keeping me waiting. Hurry up before I start without you. I should have watched it with Suigetsu when I had the chance.”

“It really wouldn’t kill you to stop being so pushy, you know.”

Extending his leg, with his foot, Sasuke nudges Naruto’s ankle.

“All right, all right, I’m going already—I’m going. Sheesh. Pushy _and_ touchy...”

As Naruto turns to walk away, yelping when he nearly trips on the water bottle he leaves right there on the floor, Sasuke leans back into the chair. He heaves a sigh, closes his eyes, listening to the heavy treading of Naruto’s feet beginning to fade into the sounds from the TV a little higher than before. Stretching his arms above him, he lets them lie lax against the cushion, elbows turned out from either side of his head, in one hand three fingers from the other held in a loose hold.

It isn’t long, however, before the empty calm is interrupted, and he releases a quiet moan, brought out of quasi-meditation by the light thump a heap of soft material dumped on top of him.

One eye opened, he peers up to see Naruto standing above him, opening both eyes when he looks down to see a familiar fleece blanket still folded lying on his chest.

Tilting his head back to look at Naruto, he blinks. “...thanks.”

Naruto snorts. “Guess it really is the comfy chair.” A hand grips the edge of the white towel draped around his neck, one side lifted to dry the back of his hair. “Did I take too long?”

“Don’t know.” Slowly, Sasuke rolls up from his spine, the blanket falling to his lap as he shifts to make himself more comfortable. “Knowing you, though, probably.”

“I’m clean. Shouldn’t that be enough for you?” Skin still a little flushed, Naruto pulls off the towel and throws it over the back of the armless orange swivel chair pushed beneath the modest desk sat against the wall. Fingers toy with the hem of a yellow t-shirt, fiddling with the waistband of grey sweats, loosening the portion of the t-shirt tucked into his pants. Halfway across the room, he pauses, standing outside the small kitchen area. “Oh, hey, you want anything?”

“If you want something.” Sasuke shrugs. “I’ll share with you.”

“Not that you couldn’t have gotten up to do this yourself,” Naruto says, “but I think there’s still some beer left. If Kiba didn’t drink it all again.” He bends down, opening the door to the fridge. “There’re some rice crackers, in here, too. The ones with the seaweed and black sesame seeds, I picked up a couple bags yesterday, since I know you like them cold sometimes.”

Closing the fridge with his foot, he stands up, juggling a bag of rice crackers and two cans of beer held against his chest, struggling with his elbow to switch off the light.

“And this really good mint chip ice cream. They were giving out free samples at the convenience store with that seriously crabby old guy who always hangs around there, you know, the one by the Krispy Kreme—these two really cute girls were being really nice to me, and they gave me more than one sample, so I felt like I had to buy more than what I usually would.”

Sasuke picks up the remote and turns the volume up a little higher, then selects a different input, changing the TV from QVC to the DVD menu for Iris. “That’s because you’re gullible.”

“Appreciating people being nice to me doesn’t make me gullible.” Plopping himself on the chair, with a sigh prolonged, content, Naruto settles down beside him. He places the two beers on the short table in front of them, handing Sasuke the bag of rice crackers in exchange for the fleece blanket he spreads out over them both. “It just means I appreciate people being nice to me. Which really doesn’t explain why I keep you around for company.”

“Apparently I’m only good for being a free weight on your back.” There’s a loud pop as Sasuke opens the plastic bag lined with foil. “Where’d that even come from?”

“Yeah, about that, I’m trying to develop a one-time only special weekend routine.”

“For...”

A hand cards through messy hair still somewhat damp, and Naruto chuckles. He stretches his legs out in front of him, bare feet peeking from underneath the blanket. “Ah, well, me and Kiba, we sort of have this bet going on. Trying to see who can do the most one-hand push-ups in a minute.”

“I thought you were training for the marathon?”

“Oh, yeah. We were doing that, too. Since classes were out today. But we ran into that Kobayashi guy I told you about last week, the grad student. Remember him, the one with the really funny eyebrows, who knows aikido like you?”

“Lee?”

“Yeah. Real nice guy as long as you don’t let the bushy brows scare you off. Me and Kiba bumped into him while we were mapping out a route close to campus, so we started talking—got his number this time. Turns out Lee’s going to run the marathon, too.

“We decided to help each other train, and he showed us some of his workout routine, all these really cool exercises he could do. Like push-ups with one hand. And then he did a couple standing upside down. _Handstand push-ups_. Who the hell even does those? But on top of that, he’s fast. I mean, really fast.”

“Considering how slow you are, anyone compared to you is fast.”

“Whatever, Sasuke. Lee already did enough to make me look bad today.” Naruto reaches into the bag for a handful of rice crackers varying in shape and size, popping them into his mouth one at a time. “But as soon as Lee left, Kiba turned to me and said, bet I could do a hundred of those one-hand push-ups in two minutes before you can even get to twenty in one. So, of course—you know me—I couldn’t turn that down. Not when that guy thinks he can actually outrun me. And now I have till Monday to work on putting him in his place.

“Going at it for so long, though...” The light from the TV reflects the grin bright on his face as he curls his bicep, fist clenched. “I really do think it made a difference.”

Sasuke swallows the food in his mouth, reaching over to push down Naruto’s arm. “It’s amazing how Shikamaru can stand to live in the same complex as either of you. Especially when he has to deal with both of you at the same time so often.”

“Trust me. He’s not as sensible as you want to believe he is.”

“More sensible than you at any rate,” Sasuke concedes, although maybe even more so considering Shikamaru’s not the one who ends up indulging Naruto more than he probably should. “How many push-ups can you do so far?”

Naruto holds up his left hand. “Uh, on this hand, in one minute, my best count was around twenty-five.” He lowers his left arm then raises the right. “And on this one, I managed to get up to thirty once. Think that’s enough to give me an edge?”

“The only way I could take you any less seriously right now, is if you decided to use two fingers instead of one hand.”

“Yeah, that’s being real helpful, Sasuke. Like I’m going to be able to pull off that kind of crazy Bruce Lee shit by Monday.” Naruto reaches over for a can of beer, flipping open the tab that releases a soft hiss. “I might ask Lee if he can do it. Tomorrow, when we meet up in the morning to run. Want to come?”

“You’re that determined to make yourself look bad?”

“So you can show me up in a couple things. Rub it in a little more, why don’t you.” Naruto tips his head back and takes a large gulp of beer, pausing to swallow with his can held midair. “Seriously. You should come, though. We’re meeting up around six, because it’s supposed to start raining around ten, but we’ll keep going if the weather’s still good.”

“That’s early for you.” Feet flat on the chair, legs raised brought close to his chest, Sasuke reaches for another rice cracker, readjusting the blanket covering him. “Even on a Saturday.”

“I know. Eight’s usually good for me, but I have that digital montage thing I have to start for Hagane’s class, so I want to make sure I give myself enough time to decide what to do.”

Sasuke glances at digital watch on Naruto’s wrist, pressing a small button to illuminate the wide face. “It’s already late. Almost nine. You sure you still want to—”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. You know I don’t mind with you. But cutting into my training schedule like this...” Naruto grins, stealing the round, uneaten rice cracker from Sasuke’s hand. “You can make it up to me if you say you’ll be there when I cross the finish line.”

“I have a reason to be?”

Naruto takes another sip of beer, licking his lips and twirling the can, swishing what’s left of the liquid inside before placing the can back on the table. “You’re going to make me beg for this, aren’t you?”

Running a hand through his hair, Sasuke breathes in, chest rising faster than the exhale too slow to come. “The marathon’s all you’ve been whining about lately. I know you want me to go. It’s just...”

“I guess it does seem sudden to expect you to make that kind of decision for something four months away, but if you’re not going to run with me, I still want you to be there.”

“...why? It won’t make a difference whether I go or not. You don’t need me there.”

“Maybe I don’t _need_ you there, but I...” Naruto smiles, simple like the brash idiot he is, the kind of smile easygoing he always gives, and Sasuke feels his body curl inward, feels his body into the chair sink deeper, because he doesn’t know how to push himself away. “Just knowing you’ll be there, knowing I’ll have seeing you to look forward to at the end, something I’d like to think would help me run a little faster, that would really mean a lot to me.”

“Naruto, you...” Sasuke clutches the bag in his hand, crushing the plastic against his palm. “How can you just say something so...”

“What? You’re the one too chicken to even sign up with me. It’s okay, though. Going against someone like me, I’d lose my nerve, too. We both know I’d beat whatever time you got. Hands down.”

Sasuke throws his head back, covering his eyes with an arm shaking from the force of a hollow laughter that makes no sound. “You dork.” His chest falls with a slow exhale, wavers with a quiet inhale the hitch suppressed in his throat. He lowers his arm, fingers releasing the bag Naruto relieves from his hand. “I don’t need to prove myself to a loser like you.”

“I swear,” Naruto says, pulling out a square rice cracker and wielding it at Sasuke, “one day, I’m actually going to get you to stop calling me names.”

“I thought you didn’t make promises you couldn’t keep?”

“...you just really like picking on me, don’t you?”

“I would.” Remote in hand, Sasuke points it towards the DVD player and presses play. “If you didn’t make it so easy.”

“Even though you treat me so poorly, the fact that I’m still here, that I’m choosing to endure the martyr role in our friendship, _willingly_ , this better be the best drama of all time.”

Setting the remote aside, with a faint hum, almost resigned, Sasuke lets his head fall on Naruto’s shoulder. His hand grasps at the edge of the blanket between them, fingers twisting and unfurling the soft material that suddenly makes him feel cold.

Naruto clears his throat. He closes the bag of rice crackers, folding it over the top. The rustling echoes loud in the room. It’s a harsh noise, breaking the steady stream of dialogue in Korean.

Harsher still is the concern in Naruto’s voice much softer that follows. “...you all right?”

Sasuke’s grip on the blanket tightens. He keeps his gaze steadfast on the screen, ignoring the eyes that shouldn’t be watching him instead of the TV.

“Because if you’re not feeling up to it, we can always—”

“Needlessly worrying about that kind of thing, Naruto, I already told you I was fine.” Unconsciously drawn closer, leaning towards the body a solid warmth beside him, Sasuke sags against Naruto, fingers curled around the blanket becoming slack as he breathes in the blend of Naruto’s soap and deodorant that reminds him too strongly of sage. “...I’m fine.”


	28. Not Everybody Has Got Somebody Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"The way you are around him, you might as well be. But keeping Sasuke waiting on your proposal for so long, what kind of devoted boyfriend are you?”_

“But I thought he already knew. The way you fall over yourself whenever you’re around him, how can he _not_ know?”

“Because he doesn’t.”

“You’re seriously saying Sasuke still doesn’t know.”

“Of course he still doesn’t know.”

“You haven’t told him yet?”

“Of course I haven’t told him yet.”

“What do you mean you’ve haven’t told him yet?”

“Exactly what I said. I haven’t told him yet.

“Why haven’t you told him yet?”

“Tell Sasuke that I like him?”

“No, I’m wondering when you’re going to tell him how nice his handwriting is—of course I’m asking what’s taking you so long to confess. You’re moving to Narita with him in a couple months. What’re you waiting on? Christmas Eve?”

“...maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Confessing that kind of thing to Sasuke, I can’t just do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because, Kiba. He’s Sasuke.”

“Never figured you for the type to make excuses.”

“I’m not making excuses. It’s just he’s so...so _Sasuke_. He can get so squeamish when it comes to people trying to get close to him. Half the time I don’t know if he’s going to end up pushing me away or not.

“But then those times he doesn’t say anything about me being too close, or he’ll lean on me, when he makes these really cute little expressions he tries not to let me see but I end up seeing, anyway. And the way he looks at me sometimes, that’s when I start to think I really could spend the rest of my life waking up to someone who looked at me like he does.”

“...you got it bad, man. Real bad. Because that’s some seriously sappy shit.”

“I know, I know, but Sasuke’s just so—even though he likes to tease me a lot, it’s really easy to talk to him, because he listens to me. And he does all these really nice things for me. He really does take care of me. In his own little, um...Sasuke way, I guess, whenever he’s not giving me one of those blank looks that make me feel like I just broke his shaman stick all over again. You know, the one where it’s like he’s mentally questioning your intelligence.”

“I didn’t know there were times he didn’t question your intelligence.”

“But it’s all worth it when he gives me these really cute little smiles. And he has this really cute little laugh I always try to get him to make. And I, uh, I...”

“Scratch bad. Bad doesn’t even begin to cover it. You’re so far gone it’s not even funny.”

“...tell me about it.”

“I already told you to tell him.”

“And say what? Hey, Sasuke, want to go out with me and maybe even ruin this really good thing we already have? Yeah, right. What if he doesn’t even like guys?”

“But he likes you. And you didn’t like guys before him. And not having liked guys before hasn’t stopped you from liking him. What’s the worst he could say?”

“A lot of things worse than no.”

“As comfortable as he seems with you, I somehow doubt it. I mean, he falls asleep on you all the time, Naruto. All the time. How much you want to bet he’d do that with any other guy?”

“Yeah, I know that, but—”

“No, no, no, there is no but in this situation. You cuddle with him, Naruto. _Cuddle_. And believe you me, I’ve walked in on some serious cuddle sessions with the two of you on that comfy chair he’s the only person you let sit on. The same comfy chair you’re sitting on while I’m beating your sorry ass score.”

“You wish you could beat my high score.”

“From now on, every time you turn on your TV, you’ll remember why you’ll never measure up to my awesome skills at Black Ops and everything else that is awesome about me.”

“Why do I keep letting you come over here?”

“Because you need someone to half-heartedly listen to you whine about how much progress you’re not making with Sasuke.” 

“Don’t remind me.”

“And it was my turn to pick the short straw. Since Shikamaru ran out on me before I could escape.”

“Some friends you guys are.”

“If you’re feeling lonely, you could always invite Sasuke over. Then I could play my game on your TV in peace. Because you’d be too distracted making googly eyes at him to continue interfering with my attempt to beat your high score.”

“You can leave any time you want, you know. No one’s forcing you to stay.”

“And it’s not like he even needs a reason to come over. Four times out of ten, if he’s not at his place, or somewhere on campus, there’s a pretty good chance he’s at yours. And as many times as I hang out over here—”

“Too many times.”

“—that’s an accomplishment right there. Now imagine if you didn’t have a roommate. Not having to worry about Shikamaru walking in unexpected, then you’d really—”

“Not the kind of thing I really need to think about right now, Kiba.”

“It’s practically like Sasuke lives with you, anyway. You even bought two more of those blue cube thingies just so he could have somewhere to keep his paint stuff. I don’t see what the big deal is about not telling him when you do that sort of thing for him, but if that isn’t part of dating, I don’t know what is.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just—”

“Subconsciously wanting to go after Sasuke in the hopes it might turn into the kind of relationship where, and I loosely quote, you’ll be able to spend the rest of your life waking up to someone who looks at you like he does.”

“...that was oddly, um, specific of you, but no. We’re not...dating.”

“Course not. His stuff’s at your place. Your stuff’s at his place. And you just happen to share everything but the kitchen sink. Sure you aren’t married, too? ”

“Who said anything about marriage? I thought you were playing Call of Duty? When’d you learn to do two things at once?”

“Just saying. Wouldn’t be surprised if you were married, really. The way you are around him, you might as well be. But keeping Sasuke waiting on your proposal for so long, what kind of devoted boyfriend are you?”

“See this pen in my hand, Kiba? Do you see this pen?”

“Hold on. Give me a second to get past this trench. I’m almost at sixty kills.”

“...I am so going to end you.”

“Before or after you decide to confess to Sasuke? Because you might just be better off banking on natural causes rather than your own lacking conviction.”

“You’re real funny, you know that. So funny you should take your stand-up on a one-man tour. Away from me.”

“But you’re my partner. And in our two-man comedy act, where would the straight man be without a funny man to hit with a fan? It’d be very awkward trying to berate you when you’re not there.”

“...I really hate you right now.” 

“For what? Accusing you of dating Sasuke? Or not being man enough to confess to him.”

“Between you and Shikamaru...”

“Because it’s still sad. Very, very sad. Even a little annoying at this stage, watching you pine after Sasuke. Even Shino’s said a thing or two about it. And he doesn’t know you guys that well.”

“As much as I appreciate your confidence in me, is there going to be a point to any of this?”

“Who knows why you like Sasuke. Whatever reason, it still stands that you do. We get that. What we’re calling you out on is the fact that you’re so obviously head over heels with this guy but then all you’ll do is complain without doing anything about it. Like actually confessing to him.”

“You make it sound like I can just go up and confess.”

“You can.”

“I want to. I really do. But what if I’m making this huge mistake and end up messing everything up?”

“You can’t.”

“Don’t you mean won’t?”

“No, in this kind of situation, I really don’t think you can mess up. How much time you spend with him, the kinds of things you do together, that isn’t what most people consider normal for two guys. And I’m talking full out doing the stuff couples are expected to do together. He even asked you to share a place with him. You are going to share a place with him. The only thing you _don’t_ do is put Tab A in Slot B.”

“Is everything about sex with you?”

“When isn’t everything about sex with me?”

“Point taken.”

“Just ask him out, Naruto. Confessing to somebody already that close to you, I don’t see what’s so hard about it.”

“I don’t even know how to ask another guy out.”

“Same way you’d ask a girl out. I guess. Except not.”

“What kind of advice is that even supposed to be?”

“Although maybe it might be easier, since you probably wouldn’t have to worry about buying Sasuke the kinds of things you’d normally get for a girl you’re asking out.”

“Seriously. What good are you to me?”

“Here. Let me break it down for you. Word of the wise from a ladies’ man who has a wealth of dating experi—hey, don’t you give me that look.”

“You? Staying with one girl for more than a week?”

“My record is two weeks, thank you very much. But anyway. All you have to do is say, Sasuke, will you go out with me? Because I like you. I really like you. So the next time we end up doing that weird thing we always do where we fall asleep on each other, in order to show you how much I like you, I’d really appreciate it if you let have me the chance to just really give it to— _ow_ , why’d you hit me? That hurt, damn it.”

“Making those kinds of gestures, don’t talk about Sasuke that way. And what’s up with that kind of lewd face?”

“So you do think about him that way.”

“You piece of shit, that’s not the point.”

“But that is what you want to do, right? Get him on his bac—”

“S-shut up, you asshole!” 

“Oh, man. Y-your face. The look on your—can’t...b-breathe.”

“Good. You shouldn’t be talking anymore. You shouldn’t be laughing, either.”

“O-or maybe you want him to be the one to bend you—o-oi, oi, quit it—quit it, stop attacking me for no good reason. Son of a—I can’t see the TV. You’re going to make me shoot the wrong—stop hitting me so—oh god, my eye— _my_ _one good_ _seeing_ _eye_!”

“Please, Kiba. The pillow didn’t even touch your face. And even if it did take your eye out, that’s why you were born with two. Learn to see through the other one.” 

“You’re lucky I paused this before you jumped me. Because I seriously would have kicked the crap out of you if you messed up my Deathmatch.”

“Tch. I’m going to kick the crap out of you if you talk about Sasuke that way again.”

“Here’s me trying to be helpful and this is the thanks I get?”

“If that’s what you call being helpful.”

“Like I said. You got it real bad. It’s almost starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I can’t be expected to play to the best of my awesome ability under these poor conditions.”

“...you know, for someone who’s not even into guys, you’re putting an awful lot of thought into this.”

“Yeah, the things I do for you, right. Being the faithful friend. Offering to shoulder this very unnecessary burden you could’ve sorted out a long time ago. Don’t forget Sasuke’s my friend, too, though. And I really think he likes you. Not that I’d ever ask him about that kind of thing, but if finally confessing to him will make you stop looking so pitiful...”

“...that’s actually really kind of sappy.”

“This conversation stays between us, you understand. I have a very important bad boy image to maintain. It took me too long to build my reputation on campus. And if word about this ever gets out...”

“Okay. Sure. Whatever you say, Kiba.”

“Hehe, you know I’m just messing with you, right? About this whole Sasuke business.”

“Yeah, I know. Even if you’re being a real pain in the ass while doing it. Still, I guess it probably gets annoying, me coming to you so much, putting up with me talking about Sasuke all the time, so thanks for bothering with me, you know?”

“Eh, I don’t need your thanks for that. Just think about what I said, all right.”

“...you really think I stand a chance?”

“The way he treats you, he doesn’t act like that around anyone else. Seriously. He lets you get away with sneaking your clothes in his laundry, Naruto. He’ll wash your clothes with his _laundry_. What other way is there to take that?”

“It’s not like you don’t leave your crap over here all the time.”

“Yeah, but I don’t spend the night over here just to snuggle next to you on the comfy chair.”

“...please, Kiba. _Please_. Putting that kind of image in my head—”

“Bad image, you’re right. Sorry, I was just—”

“No. Just no.”

“Yeah, that did sound kind of really, really bad—no way in hell I’d ever be caught dead snuggling up with your ugly mug. Sasuke on the other hand, though, maybe there’s something I’ve been missing all this time, since you’re so—”

“Is there eventually going to be a point when you run out of things to say for the sake of annoying me?”

“I don’t know, Naruto. I’m actually thinking about calling Sasuke right now.”

“You better not.”

“Try me.”

“Pulling out your phone doesn’t mean you’re going to call him.”

“Maybe it should. Maybe I should tell him how his nice handwriting makes me feel.”

“Shut it, Kiba. You know that was a long time ago. It doesn’t even mean the same thing anymore.”

“Throwing a pen at me doesn’t make the fact you want to hold Sasuke in your arms and make kissy faces at him all day any less true.”

“...”

“You missed, by the way.”

“...you’re such an ass.”


	29. Don't Know Much About the French I Took

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Sasuke’s going to kill you for walking around here like that, you know.”_

He barely had time for a detour, his fault for snatching the wrong jacket this morning during his rush to get to class, in effect leaving behind his ID he needed now, but there’s still enough time to slip in and slip out of the apartment without bothering Sasuke, who was probably still studying, and then pick up the 9:17 train heading to Shibuya to meet Karin at Womb before ten.

His carabineer’s already out by the time he reaches the door, the attached cutesy purple character keychain a gag gift from Karin chiming with his keys, a mini flash drive, and a maroon penknife. Two seconds later he’s through the door, not bothering to take off his shoes, willing to risk Sasuke and his neurotic self chewing him out for it later.

Making a beeline for the desk, murmuring a quick _hi_ to Sasuke and Naruto lounging near the TV, he grabs the dark blue jacket carelessly thrown over the desk, searching inside the outside pocket for his ID. Stuffing the ID in the side pocket of his jeans, he tosses the jacket back over the desk, a hasty _bye_ on the tip of the tongue before he pauses, consciously taking notice of Sasuke and Naruto sharing the extra large futon from the closet, backs cushioned by two pillows acting as a barrier between them and the wall.

Flustered, Naruto starts at the sudden attention on him. No longer holding an apparently sleeping Sasuke, his arm lies instead restless across his lap. Shoulders somewhat tense, he looks up with a nervous laugh, attempting to offset the sudden, almost awkward atmosphere, eyes large and grin too keen. “Suigetsu, hey...”

“Hey, yourself.” Suigetsu looks between Naruto and the TV playing some outdated documentary about China, with another glance at Sasuke. “Looks like fun.”

“Too much for him to handle.” Naruto snorts. “Thought you were going out tonight. What’s up?”

“Not planning on staying long. Just came back to get my ID.” Three times Suigetsu pats his side pocket. 

“Oh. Okay.” The tension in Naruto’s shoulders gradually begins to ease, just about gone following a prolonged exhale. Adjusting the comforter covering his legs, he gestures to the white shoes Suigetsu hasn’t taken off, offering a more genuine smile. “Sasuke’s going to kill you for walking around here like that, you know.”

“Always empty threats with that guy,” Suigetsu says, returning the smile with a vaguely amused one of his own. “I’ll chance it.”

Curious, or maybe just nosy, he narrows his eyes at Sasuke leaning against Naruto. Long strides bring him closer, and he crouches down beside them, steady on the balls of his feet, elbows resting over his legs. “He really is out, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” There’s a low chuckle from Naruto. It’s a mellow sounding laughter, laced with a noticeable warmth found in his gaze that strays with a fleeting glance at Sasuke. “He’s been running all over the place since last week. Getting a head start preparing for finals. Forcing me to work a little harder, too. Nothing unexpected, I guess, but...”

Suigetsu nods with a faint hum, leaning in a little closer to study Sasuke, watching the subtle movement of characteristically sharp features surprisingly open, Sasuke’s breathing light, nearly inaudible through his mouth ajar.

“Funny how a guy like him can look like this,” he murmurs, hand motioning a slow arc in front of Sasuke’s face. “Not so tempting to annoy when he’s—”

“Do me a favour, Suigetsu.”

Suigetsu acknowledges Naruto with a distracted murmur. He continues to stare at Sasuke, again waving his hand.

With a low moan, Sasuke starts to shift, lifting his head drooped over his shoulder. His mouth closes while his knee rises, left leg brought closer to his body, arms hidden beneath the comforter pulled up to his chest as he slouches forward, turning towards Naruto. The slight parting of his lips releases a heavy sigh, and he breathes in softly, completely relaxed at Naruto’s side.

In the brief moment it takes to realise Sasuke’s still asleep, the lagging stillness draws attention to the drone from the TV, the voice of the narrator fading into the tranquil lull of instrumental music.

“...don’t do that again, all right.”

Arm lowered, Suigetsu looks up to meet blue eyes, eyebrows raised in question. “Do what, Blondie?”

“What you were doing. Just...just don’t, okay.” To accommodate Sasuke’s weight, Naruto settles into a more comfortable position, left arm slipping beneath the comforter. He lets out a soft grunt, a second or two spared to glance down before he looks back up, wearing an acute sort of half-smile. “It wouldn’t be fair for Sasuke to wake up when he doesn’t have to.”

Suigetsu gives him an odd look, matching the outwardly simple gaze with an intent stare.

The words seem earnest, the appeal reasonable enough, yet there’s a certain scrutiny underlying the resolve, measured in Naruto’s careful tone, and the irony of the situation causes Suigetsu to grin.

“Never intended to. As if I’d risk him catching me wearing shoes inside here.” With a light-hearted scoff, hands pushing down on his legs, he stands, heading towards the entryway. Going against a practice so fundamentally ingrained, he’d probably feel worse if his shoes weren’t brand new. “I ever mention how much of an interesting guy you really are? Especially around Sasuke.”

“Heh. Coming from you, I don’t think it’s safe to take that as a compliment.”

Suigetsu’s laugh carries with him, lingers in the slight curve of his mouth as he opens the door. Two steps away from the hall, fingers grasped around the knob, abrupt, he turns around. “My roommate tell you I finally asked Karin out?”

“No,” Naruto says, the surprise in his eyes quickly replaced by a teasing glint, “but it took you long enough. Me and Sasuke didn’t know what you were waiting for.” He reaches over his lap to pick up a nearly empty plastic bottle lying on the floor and places it upright on the table beside him, careful not to jostle Sasuke’s head resting against his shoulder. “So what’d she say?”

Suigetsu steps out of the apartment, grinning at Naruto through the diminishing gap between the threshold and the door. “Tell Sasuke I’ll see him Sunday, yeah?” Not waiting for a response, he closes the door behind him. He locks it with a turn of his key then pulls out his phone, shoulders shaking with a laughter unrestrained that echoes all the way down the hall.


	30. Only Gets Better With Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Well, yeah. Even without the face, it’s still supposed to remind you of a panda. Mr. Panda.” ___

“...what’d I do this time?”

“I didn’t say you did anything.”

“No, Sasuke. I know _that look_. It’s the same one you give me when you won’t admit that I did something you can’t say you don’t like, so I know I did something. Not that I know what that something I did is, but I do know I didn’t _not_ do something, especially when—why are you still looking at me like that?”

“The same reason you’re still backing away from me.”

“Because it looks like you’re going to inflict some kind of pain on me. And not the good kind of pain that leads to the really good kinds of things we both like doing, either. I’m talking the really—”

“Make it easier on yourself and stop moving.”

“Always so rough with me,” Naruto grumbles, left to squirm with one last step bringing his back against the wall. “Would it really hurt you to be a little gentle for once?”

“If you didn’t whine so much then maybe I’d actually start to care.”

“You’re messing it up now. Nothing was wrong with it. Stop trying to—it’s fine the way it is.”

“It’s crooked.”

“That was my _ear_ , you goddamn anal retentive bast—the hell was that for, you asshole—pull a little harder next time, why don’t y—”

“I’m going to pull these tassels around your neck if you don’t hold still. You’re the one who keeps moving. I barely even touched you.”

With a last ditch effort to escape immediately made futile by an impatient gaze, Naruto exaggerates a sigh, resigned to his fate at Sasuke’s cruel and unsympathetic touch. “...it’s just a hat,” he mumbles.

“A stupid character hat you’re too old to be wearing.”

“Since when does being twenty make me an old man like you?”

“You’ll be twenty-one next month.”

“But Mr. Panda’s cute.”

And really, it is. Nowhere near as bad as Sasuke’s trying to make it out to be, although he knows it’s more or less Sasuke not being able to admit liking the hat.

Something he bought on impulse, which can only be blamed on the fact winter decided to show up two months too early this year, it’s a simple knit cap, mostly white but trimmed black around the edges, with small black ears sitting on top and two braided tassels each a cord black intertwining white along large ear flaps that keep him comfortably warm. As flashy as his style tends to be, all in all, considering the distinct lack of eyes and nose that would’ve really made it look like a panda made itself at home on his head, for someone like him, the hat’s pretty darn subtle.

Besides, he’s seen guy idols wear more cutesy stuff than this all the time. Guys older than him, too. Especially those Korean idols from the music Sasuke sometimes listens to. Girls like to go crazy over guys wearing that kind of stuff, so it’s not like he’s the only one who does it. And he can’t say he minds the extra attention wearing the hat gets him sometimes.

Any excuse to justify his need to stand out, Sasuke would probably say, which he can’t exactly deny, because, yeah, okay, maybe it’s nice to be noticed every now and then, especially when it’s Sasuke doing the noticing—except the time they ran into Karin and Suigetsu last week, when Karin almost knocked him over with an unexpected attack hug, then called him something in Korean that just made Suigetsu say something else Naruto didn’t understand, not even trying to hide how hilarious he thought the whole thing was, since apparently that’s the only sensible way to react after seeing your girlfriend hanging off another guy’s arm (not that Suigetsu’s ever been that sensible in the first place, anyway).

But he really can do without going through that again.

Even weirder still, was when she forced her pink and white knit hat on a bored looking Sasuke, who’s actually used to her behaviour, claiming she didn’t want his ears to get cold, then rambling off about spoonfeeding, the importance of a hundred percent synchronisation, chocolate abs, and some other strange shit—whatever she said, like he never fails to tell Sasuke, he chalked it all up to Karin and Suigetsu just being plain weird.

“You actually named that thing,” Sasuke says, lowering his hands and taking a step back to inspect his attempt to make Naruto look somewhat casual presentable, which they both know is way beyond a lost cause at this point.

The sigh that follows is kind of inevitable, too. Less out of exasperation and more of a faint hum by now, when Sasuke gives him one of these soft looks, one of those fond expressions hidden beneath the smile that doesn’t reach his lips yet somehow still so wholly apparent in his eyes, and Naruto can’t shake this sort of mad crazy hypnotic feeling that makes it seem impossible to pull himself away.

“Well, yeah. Even without the face, it’s still supposed to remind you of a panda. Mr. Panda.”

“It’s a hat.”

“If you’re jealous, I’ll buy one for you, too. Maybe a Rilakkuma one? Or even a Korilakkuma one. You could pull that off. A Kiiroritori one would probably be better, though. That seems like it’d suit you more. Yeah, with that unfortunate thing you call a hairstyle going on in the back, definitely Kiirori—”

“Naruto.”

“Oh, come on.” A low noise building from his chest rising in the back of his throat, Naruto doesn’t fight the laughter that spills over at Sasuke’s annoyed stare. “You can’t tell me you don’t think it’s cute.”

“I don’t think it’s cute.”

“Whatever you say, Sasuke, but you know you like Mr. Panda. See?” Smile wide, Naruto pulls on both ear flaps, slight motions shifting the hat from side to side. “Who wouldn’t want to kiss the face of the guy wearing a hat this cute?”

“I’d rather squish it.”

Gloved fingers reach to pull the knit cap over Naruto’s face, intercepted by the hand that grabs Sasuke’s wrist instead. Unfazed by the sharp movement, Sasuke allows his body to be carried forward with the momentum, all but held against Naruto.

A knowing grin fills in the beginnings of a leer. “...you really don’t like my hat?”

Free hand raised, tassel caught with his finger and thumb, Sasuke watches him from beneath lowered eyelids that don’t fully close.

In small circles the tassel begins to coil, rubbed between his fingers meticulously slow chasing along the corded length. He pauses when his fingers slide over the knot, hand curling around the loose fringe at the tail end he then gives a light tug.

There’s a slight upturn of his chin, the reveal of a sly glint in dark eyes luring Naruto further in. Gradually, the hold on Sasuke’s wrist becomes lax, turns slack with an offer of a not quite kiss, the whisper of _I don’t_ a shallow breath barely a tingle brushed on Naruto’s lips.

Then just like that, Sasuke decides to pull away.

Looking far too pleased for his own good, he drops the tassel from his hand, letting it fall against Naruto’s chest. He turns on his heel, carrying with him this look, one last glance at Naruto this very specific brand of understated haughty smug that’s just so, _so_ unbelievably him.

With a low chuckle, Naruto breaks out into a slow grin, thumb wiping at the corner of his mouth. “You’re still taking me to that ramen place you found, right?”

“If you still want to go,” Sasuke says, snagging the keys from the kitchen counter and putting them in the side pocket of his fitted pea coat. “But I’m not paying for you if you plan on taking all day.”

“Like I’d ever jeopardise the chance to get free ramen from you.” Letting out a light snort, Naruto goes after Sasuke, catching up with him at the entryway. He pats his back pocket once, then two more times. “Hey, you got my wal—”

“Mm.” Sasuke lowers his head, looking down near the top of his coat to fasten a large grey button that’d come undone, fingers then moving up to carefully adjust the broad, folded flaps. Eyes slightly narrowed, wearing an almost thoughtful frown, with both hands, he reaches behind his neck to straighten the wide collar, looking up to meet Naruto’s steady gaze, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “What?” 

“Didn’t think it was that cold outside,” Naruto says, stuffing his feet into bright red sneakers already tied while Sasuke opens the door leading to the outside balcony. “It’s only September and you already look so bundled up.”

“Not everyone has your abnormal body heat.”

“Maybe, but...” Following Sasuke through the doorway, stopped beside him, Naruto leans a little closer, raising a hand to push away the longer strands of dark hair visible beneath an off-white knit hat. “There.”

Sasuke blinks, gaze expectant paired with another near frown.

“It was covering your eyes.”

“That make the front of my hair an unfortunate style, too?”

“Only when it doesn’t let me see you.”

Taking the keys out of his pocket, Sasuke locks the door, ducking his head turned to the side but unable to hide this shy little embarrassed smile that puts the stupidest, most hopelessly idiotic look on Naruto’s face.

“Out of all the things you could’ve come up with, out of all things you _have_ come up with, I’m really starting to think you’re losing your touch, Sasuke.”

“You’re so full of shit.”

An arm around Sasuke keeps him from walking away, holds him close, and Naruto grins, forehead resting against Sasuke’s, fingers sneaking beneath Sasuke’s collar, flittering across the back of his neck and pressing gently into skin. “I seriously can’t believe me saying that kind of thing still gets to you.”

“Because it’s awful. And you’re an idiot for trying to get away with it.”

“But that’s thing, isn’t it,” Naruto murmurs, head bowed, mouth a light pressure trailing alongside Sasuke’s jaw. His other hand on Sasuke’s hip slides underneath the grey coat, reaching to lift the hem of Sasuke’s shirt gathered in his palm. “...you do let me get away with it.”

“Try again.” Slipping out from the arms around him, Sasuke snorts, this time not trying to hide the small traces of a smile. He heads towards the stairs on the other side of the balcony, readjusting the back of his collar and the front folds of his coat. “You coming or what?”

For a moment Naruto just stands there, hasty fingers tapping out a slapdash rhythm on the metal railing. It’s doesn’t last more than half a second of two before he starts to grin, feet quick to take him right back to Sasuke. He lets out a warm laugh, placing both hands on Sasuke’s shoulders and steering him in a straight line. “You had me at ramen.”


	31. Simple Equation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Because ramenfan1023 is the password you use for everything.”_

“Are you using my computer again?”

“Does it look like I’m using your computer again?”

“...”

“...”

“Here’s where I’d normally offer to ignore that and be nice to you for once. Except you’re the one who’s always mean to me first.”

“Yes, Naruto. I’m using your computer again.”

“Why are you using my computer again?”

“...”

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Wondering why you like to use my laptop so much when you have your own, that’s a serious question.”

“Because ramenfan1023 is the password you use for everything.”

“...”

“...”

“That’s not the point.”

“Of course it’s not.”

“Tch. Making yourself comfortable with my stuff, in _my_ place, and then having the nerve to treat me like I’m the one who did something wrong.”

“Mm-hm.”

“What’s taking you so long, anyway? It didn’t take me that long to change, did it?”

“No, but I need to finish up a few emails and send a message to Kakashi by one. I’m still stuck in that advertising class.”

“I don’t even know why they scheduled you for that. It’s already been a week.”

“Registrar office said it was a computer glitch, from trying to fill up empty seats. Kakashi said they’ll get to it eventually, but I’m not waiting until the end of the term to drop a class. He actually responded this time, though, so I want to get back to him before he tries to leave his office. Then he can’t try to justify—why are you sitting so close to me?”

“Because it’s my comfy chair you’re sitting in, and you said I could take you out to lunch, but obviously you’re only using that as an excuse to use my computer, so I’m just going to bother you until we actually leave, because I really want to go to that new curry place. Oh, and I want to try the octopus balls at Mashiro’s, too. Everybody keeps saying how good it is.”

“As interesting as that doesn’t sound, get away from me.”

“Actually, I think I’m pretty comfortable right here.”

“Go. Away.”

“But you’re in my chair. Hogging my computer. And I’m hungry. Breakfast was three hours ago. My stomach is now in pain.”

“Then quit whining to me about it and go get something to eat.”

“Your left eye’s doing that funny little twitchy thing again. Is that—haha, seriously? That’s what Kakashi calls you? No wonder why you’re always so cranky when it comes to that guy.”

“Naruto, stop—”

“How come you never let me get away with calling you that?”

“Don’t be so childish. You are not calling me—move your—stop trying to read my mail.”

“It’s my computer.”

“You shouldn’t have left it on your desk where I could see it.”

“...it was in my bag.”

“Off me. Now.”

“Just let me read the rest of it real quick.”

“No.”

“Why won’t you—”

“It’s none of your business.”

“But it’s my computer. And why’s he talking about me in your email? Is he trying to spread more rumours about me again? Ever since I started taking his class, I swear that guy’s been out to get me.”

“It’s just—give it back. What do you think you’re—”

“Take it easy, all right. It’s just a joke. Not like I’m actually going to send—”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...um, what’d I touch?”

“...Naruto.”

“Hehe...oops?”

“You have three seconds before I kill you.”

“Sasuke, I—”

“One.”

“It was an accident, Sasuke—an accident. I didn’t mean it. Kakashi probably won’t take it seriously, anyway. Just because I told him he’s being selfish interfering with all your time that’s supposed to be spent with—”

“Three.”

“What the—you can’t just skip over numbers like that. You didn’t even give me a—”

“ _You overgrown manchild_!”

“What are you—”

“What the hell possessed you to send something so inappropriate? Now Kakashi’s going to think I—”

“He’s not going to—why are you shaking me so hard?”

“Apparently I’m not doing it hard enough if you’re still talking.”

“Are you trying to kill me on purpose?”

“Does it look like I’m trying to killing you on purpose?”

“Watch out for my—that was my _head_ , you asshole.”

“Your head’s going to be the last thing you’ll have to worry about by the time I’m finished with you.”

“What part of _it was an accident_ do you not get?”

“The part where you still sent that email to Kakashi.”

“Sheesh, I’m sorry, all right—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“This is the last time you’re going to—”

“It isn’t like I—damn it, Sasuke, you— _stop_ , just stop, okay.”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

“I think there’s a really good chance you probably already broke my shoulder. Like ninety-four percent or something.”

“...let go of me, Naruto.”

“ _Hell no_. Not when you’re trying to kill me.”

“I’m going to do a lot more than kill you once I get my foot up your—”

“Oi, Shikamaru, you in here? Kenji said Nakamura wanted to meet up at the...”

“...”

“...”

“At the...um...”

“H-hey, Ch-Chouji. Chouji, it’s you. Chouji...hi.”

“...Naruto, I...as much as I appreciate how often you and Shikamaru like to leave your door unlocked, uh, is this a bad time?”

“Bad time? What are you—oh, me and Sasuke, you mean. That, what this is, it’s not what it looks like. Definitely not what it looks like. Then again, who said me and Sasuke look like we’re in a compromising position, anyway?”

“Um, no one did.”

“...and just what’re you trying to insinuate, Naruto?”

“Ah, well, uh, you see, Sasuke, the thing is—with me sitting on you like this, and, uh...your legs being where they are out...um, there—even though you were trying to break my rib cage and squeeze me to death just a few seconds ago, I guess if anybody walked in on this situation, us being in the position we’re in, not that that’s what us being in this position is what it means, and not that I think that what this position we’re in looks like what it doesn’t mean, but if I’m just being honest, it really does kind of look like we were in the middle of getting ready to have—”

“ _Die_.”

“Wait a min—wait a minute, Sasu—”

“Hold still.”

“Why shouldn’t I keep moving when I don’t want to get hurt?”

“You idiot, my foot going up your ass is supposed to hurt.”

“I’m not ready to see my life flash before my eyes. I’m too good looking to die. I’m too— _what have I ever done to you in a past life_?”

“Shut up and stop struggling so I can kill you.”

“What the hell kind of encouragement is that?!”

“I know I told you to stop struggling.”

“Friends don’t let friends kill each other, remember? Especially best friends. Best friends like you and—why are you always trying to kill me on a regular basis?!”

“Because stupid shit always comes out of your mouth whenever you’re breathing!”

“I don’t know why you’re acting so embarrassed. It’s not like we were actually having sex or— _ohmygod_ —why are you stabbing my back with your knee? Stop pulling my—you’re going to break my—you bastard, my arms _do not_ bend that way.”

“Stop whining and accept your death like a man.”

“...C-Chouji...sav-ve...me.”

“Not that I enjoy watching Sasuke beat you up, but aren’t you the one who claimed you can handle these very pitiful kinds of situations on your own?”

“Never mind this idiot, Chouji. He’s already a lost cause.”

“What kind of—”

“Besides, Naruto, Shikamaru told me it’s best not to interfere and let this apparent thing you have run its course. A year later, but still...it’s something I’d prefer to stay out of.”

“What’d you mean Shikamaru told—you’re just going to stand there and watch me die?”

“Mm, actually, I’m just going to go, so...”

“H-hey, Chouji, don’t—Chouji, stop being so inconsiderate and help me out here. This violent bastard’s trying to kill me and you aren’t even—”

“Haven’t you learned to stop talking yet?”

“...p-pain...I am in so much... _pain_.”

“Um, yeah, so, I’m just...I’m just going to leave quietly. Leave you to...that—whatever it is you’re doing. Next time I’ll make sure to call ahead.”


	32. To the Place Where We'll Always Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"...your brother intimidates me."_

“You couldn’t have told me he was coming? Or at least given me some kind of warning before I got home?”

“And what kind of warning was I supposed to give? He was supposed to be in New York.” Hands turned out, gripping the edge by his palms, Sasuke hops onto the counter, legs dangling over the side, scooting back until his feet are a good distance from touching the floor. “I didn’t even know he was coming.”

“Some kind of hint before you hung up on me would’ve been nice. Instead of worrying me for no reason, actually telling me he was here would’ve been great, too. Or was that something you conveniently overlooked—because, you know. Springing Itachi on me like that? Not cool, Sasuke.”

With a snort, Sasuke begins to dig through the large, white paper bag placed on the counter, removing the rest of the groceries Naruto brought back. Next to the sink he sets down a bottle of jasmine tea and four foam cups of instant ramen, each lined up to make a neat little row, placing on top of one cup two packs of Lotte Black Black gum and a small bag of candy already opened. 

“If you hadn’t turned your phone off on me,” Naruto says, “you could’ve sent me a message. I think I’ve known you long enough to deserve a little more consideration.”

“Allowing you to live with me is consideration enough.”

“But really, it wasn’t exactly the impressionable kind of first impression I’d planned on making with your family. Especially with your brother. I felt like an idiot just standing there like that.”

“And you look like an idiot standing there now—not helping me put this stuff away.” Reaching behind him to open the cabinet door adjacent to his right, Sasuke places a small jar of red miso paste inside. “I don’t see a difference.”

The hard candy in his mouth is pushed to one side with a click of his tongue, and Naruto gives Sasuke a dry look, left cheek slightly protruding.

“Funny.” With the back of his teeth, he bites down on the tart candy, breaking it into jagged little pieces that quickly become smaller and smaller. 

“Stop overreacting.”

Taking the small package of sweet bean cakes all but shoved into his hand, Naruto extends his arm to reach above Sasuke’s head and places the package into the open cabinet. “Hey, cut me some slack here, all right. I come home, see you on the couch real cosy with this guy who almost looks just like you—except not—then he’s smiling at me like he caught me in the act of doing something very, very wrong, which wasn’t fair at all, since he already knew my name when I didn’t know even who he was until he suddenly introduces himself as your _older brother_ —and of course, you’re no help.

“Hiding behind him and putting me on the spot like that. Not that I would’ve expected anything different from you, and yeah, I get that you were really embarrassed about the whole thing, with the way your face started to get seriously red because he kept calling you his little brother, treating you like you were still a little ki—”

“You finished yet?” Sasuke says, wearing one of those almost dull, really bland expressions with this tiny little tinge of resigned annoyance easy enough for Naruto to pick up on then promptly disregard.

“Finished what? Talking about my feelings?”

“Talking in general.”

“Oh, I didn’t even mention his X-ray vision, did I? Because I swear it felt like he instantly knew about all the embarrassing things I ever did in life. Like when I was four, and the time I accidentally broke this really old vase when our neighbours were babysitting me, but then I blamed it on their evil, possessed black cat from hell, cause it really was that damn cat’s fault for following me everywhere and trying to chew off my ankle, which meant I had to tell my parents I couldn’t be held responsible for supernatural forces outside my control. Obviously.”

“I’m sure they believed you.”

“Just like I can’t believe you let me carry on and on like that in front of Itachi.” Naruto pauses, placing a bag of brown rice inside the cabinet, next to the generous package of dry natto, between a two meal case of spicy curry udon and the snack-sized bags of okra chips Sasuke likes to eat too much. “Wait a minute—take that back.” He closes the door. “I can.”

“I can’t let you do anything you don’t want to do, Naruto.”

“Don’t think I’m going to fall for that with you,” Naruto says, eyes stern following an accusatory finger pointed at the tip of Sasuke’s nose. “You make me do a lot of things I don’t even realise I’m doing until I’ve already done them. But hanging me out to dry in front of your brother...”

Pushing down Naruto’s hand, Sasuke tilts his head, wearing this small little amused smile not even the least apologetic. “I already said I wasn’t expecting him, didn’t I? I was in the middle of working on the assignment Kakashi’s forcing me to do. Seeing my brother really did take me by surprise.”

“Took _you_ by surprise?” Naruto huffs, reaching for another piece of candy he unwraps and pops into his mouth. “What about me?”

“What about you?”

“...I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate your show of concern during my obvious time of need.”

“You call this a time of need?” Sasuke reveals another little smile, handing Naruto a box of Corn Frosty. 

“I’m really not a big fan of this assembly line formation. Making me do all the work, especially since I’m the one who was forced to go to the store. Shouldn’t you be doing this?”

“Your milk. Your cereal.” Paper bag held over his lap, Sasuke folds it flat, laying the bottom section over then setting the bag to the side. “Your problem.”

“Mr. I-only -like-sweet-things-when-nobody’s-looking, you act like I didn’t catch you eating the last of my Waffle Corn Frosty,” Naruto mutters, leaning down to put the cereal inside the bottom cabinet to the right of Sasuke’s leg. “But seriously,” he says, standing upright, both hands placed near the counter’s edge on either side of Sasuke, “back to your brother.”

“Pretend I’m listening.”

“Your _brother_ , Sasuke.”

“You said that already.”

“Because I had a very strong feeling it was something that needed to be said again.”

“And?”

“Well...” Taking his time to inhale, closing his mouth, Naruto slowly releases the air through his nose. “It’s not that I don’t like your brother, but did you notice that he seemed really...”

Both hands reaching for the wide collar of Naruto’s t-shirt, Sasuke watches him for a moment or two, eyes made soft by a slight teasing gleam much more comforting and far less overwhelming than the kind of subtle scrutiny Itachi was subjecting Naruto to earlier. “Nice.”

“Yeah, that, too. If that’s what you want to call it, sure. Why not?”

“My brother’s supposed to be something other than nice?” Sasuke says, grip light on Naruto’s shirt beckoning him just a bit closer, pulling on the material in his hands with a short series of alternating tugs.

“...there’s never any way to win with you, is there?” Naruto narrows his eyes, rightfully suspicious of the tiny little barely there smile that still hasn’t left Sasuke’s face. “I bet you said things about me, didn’t you? Very mean and bad untrue things that made him stare at me like that for so long.”

Smile overturned by an almost frown, Sasuke raises an eyebrow.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t see the way he was staring at me.”

“Since when does making occasional eye contact during a conversation constitute as staring?”

“You did say very mean and bad untrue things about me, didn’t you?”

“Why would I say anything bad about you?”

“Answering my question with another question doesn’t really answer my question.”

With a single look, Sasuke conveys the long-suffering impression of rolling his eyes without actually rolling his eyes, releasing his grip on Naruto’s collar and lowering his arms that fall crossed over his lap. “It’s all in your head.”

Some of it probably is, Naruto can admit. But not that much. Well, at least he doesn’t think it’s that much. “I’m telling you. The way he was staring at me, how closely he was paying attention to me, your brother was being really nice. Too nice, in fact.”

“That’s what you got out of his so-called staring. He was being too nice.” 

“Forget about the staring.” Naruto gives a few quick shakes of his head, leaning forward then pushing up from the counter with his hands to stand up straight. “It’s not just about the staring.”

“Then what is it about?”

“Your brother kept smiling at me, Sasuke,” Naruto hisses. “ _Smiling_. With one of the most threatening, non-threatening smiles ever. Interrogating me about my hobbies, what I’m studying, why I’m interested in photography. Talking about the photos on the wall then actually having the nerve to compliment me after I told him I took them. And now I’m going to have dreams about the whole thing. Nightmares.”

“Dreams about my brother smiling at you?”

“Please don’t put it that way. It sounds creepy when you put it that way.”

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, it means he likes you?”

“Likes me? Ch. No, Sasuke—no. You don’t smile at people like that. And the way your brother was smiling at me, seriously, there was just this vibe he had, right. This certain...okay, I don’t know exactly what to call it, but that doesn’t not prove my point. Which is, whatever Itachi was up to, I felt it.”

“He wanted to get to know you.”

“Yeah, right. That’s probably what he set out to make me to think.”

“Mm-hm.”

“I don’t know if he was yanking my chain or what, but it sort of felt like I was secretly getting the third degree for stealing your favourite toy ten years ago. Like I was being put on trial, only, it was more like he was waiting for me to incriminate myself for something I didn’t even do. Not that I’m saying I’m guilty of doing anything, because I didn’t even know you ten years ago, but a guy who looks that harmless shouldn’t radiate such strong killing intent, you know. It’s just not natural.”

Sasuke makes this soft noise a cross between a sigh and a hum, partially resigned, maybe that much more placating, fingers giving a playful tug to stray strands of blond hair he pushes away from Naruto’s eyes. “I will never claim to understand how the hell you even manage to come up with half the crap you say.”

“It’s not crap if it’s true. And this is true. Because those looks you like to give me sometimes, I can see where you get it from now. But appearing so nice at first, the kind of smile Itachi was giving me, that was wrongful deceit.”

“All this from a smile, Naruto?”

“I did not feel like it was a happy smile. It was more like a suspicious smile. Or an unpromising smile. Or a borderline-I-know-how-to-hide-dead-bodies kind of—”

Leaning forward, Sasuke raises an arm around Naruto’s neck, letting it fall over Naruto’s shoulder, hand relaxed against Naruto’s back. The corner of his mouth starts to twitch, lips pressed together tight in a too obvious attempt not to laugh as he reaches with his other hand to pat Naruto on the head. “Getting so worked up over something like that,” he says, letting his forehead fall against Naruto’s, fingers tangled within coarse strands of blond hair, “you’re going to hurt yourself at this rate.”

“You’re starting to get a little too comfortable with this,” Naruto says, eyebrows pinched and nose scrunched in slight annoyance. “Don’t think this artificial height suddenly gives you some kind of advantage. You don’t need to let that kind of power trip go to your head.”

“There’s nothing artificial about the fact I’m taller than you.”

“Jerk.” With a grunt, Naruto lowers his head, dropping it against Sasuke’s chest, arms reaching around Sasuke’s waist pulling Sasuke towards him, nearer and nearer to the edge of the counter as he worms himself comfortable between Sasuke’s legs. “I’m glad you find the way your brother makes me feel so funny.” 

Hands making a quick reach for the arms around him, Sasuke braces himself, the pads of his fingers digging into Naruto’s skin. “N-Naruto, what’re you—let go. Let go. You’re going to make us both—” 

“You know I wouldn’t let you fall.” 

Sasuke tenses at the words. After a few seconds, no more than two or three, he begins to relax. Slowly, his fingers loosen their grip and his arms around Naruto’s shoulders return Naruto’s hold. “I know you’re only this talkative when you’re nervous, but it can’t just be about my brother smiling at you.”

Naruto gives an unintelligible grumble further muffled by Sasuke’s shirt.

Pulling him closer, Sasuke breathes out softly, hand stroking the hair along Naruto’s nape. “But even if Itachi coming here was unexpected, you normally don’t act like this. So why do you suddenly feel the need to make a big deal out of meeting him, Naruto?”

It’s less of a request and more of a demand, but Naruto answers, anyway, without question, giving into the gentle fingers massaging his scalp. Deep, he breathes in. Heavy, he breathes out.

“...your brother intimidates me.”

There’s a slight pause at first, an extremely brief lapse of silence, Sasuke’s hand stilling before his quiet snort turns into a disbelieving chuckle short-lived that vibrates from deep within his chest. “He what?”

“That’s right. Laugh it up, you bastard.” Fingers pressing into Sasuke’s sides in warning, Naruto lets out a near growl, holding him still when Sasuke starts to squirm. “I’m not saying it again.” 

“Naruto, d-don’t—don’t do that. You know I don’t like being—”

“Then don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you. I just didn’t realise the Great Uzumaki Naruto could actually be intimidated.”

“Shut up, Sasuke. You don’t get to use my words against me at a time like this.”

“Since when did I need your permission?”

“Sasuke...”

Still holding Naruto, fingers of one hand again running through blond hair, Sasuke makes a small, vague noise. “My brother’s a nice person. You said it yourself. I don’t see what’s so intimidating about him.”

“That’s because he’s your brother,” Naruto mumbles. “But for me, he just...he just is, okay.”

“How, though? You’re the guy who thinks the word stranger is synonymous with being another potential number in your phone’s contact list.”

“You do realise you’re my permanent roommate, right?” One hand running along Sasuke’s side, fingers marking a path following down Sasuke’s hip, Naruto gives him a firm squeeze. “Why aren’t you trying to be more accommodating in this situation? You’re supposed to be making me feel better.”

“Feel better about what?”

“You really could learn to do without the sarcasm, you know.”

“No, I don’t know.” Sasuke shifts a little, resting his chin on top of Naruto’s head. “Tell me.”

It takes a while to inhale, seemingly forever trapped in this one instance a meaningless effort to keep time still, but it isn’t long before Naruto lets out the breath he’s been holding. “...well, uh, see, the thing is, I don’t think Itachi’s intimidating because he’s not a nice guy. Because he is. Really. A hell of a lot nicer than I think I should be able to expect someone related to you to be.”

“It’s more like it’s _because_ he’s your brother that he’s intimidating. Since he’s someone important to you. And I know how much he means to you, which makes it even more important that he sees me in a good light. He’s a really big part of your life, so I really want to him to accept me, because I hope one day he’ll consider me an important part of your life, too.”

“Naruto, you...” Laying his head down, cheek pressed against Naruto’s hair, Sasuke sighs, fingers making a reach for the back of Naruto’s shirt sleeve gripped tight in one hand. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

Naruto gives a half-hearted shrug, staring at flecks of ink and paint splattered across Sasuke’s blue shirt. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, sometimes, this really good thing I have with you, I kind of feel like we rushed into it, because even though we’ve known each other for a while, being with you like this, some things still feel too new, but then at the same time, I get this sort of stupid kind of scary feeling that it wouldn’t be enough even if we knew each other all our lives, and it’s just—I don’t know.”

With a near quiet scoff he almost doesn’t hear, Naruto closes his eyes, sagging against Sasuke just a little, giving him another squeeze, tighter, unyielding. “I never know what I’m trying to say, do I? Not that any of this matters after the fact, but...

“When the three of us were talking, even if it was mostly Itachi asking questions trying to get to know me better—when you talk about him, it’s easy to see that he means a lot to you, but when I saw the way you kept looking at him, like he was the only person in the room with you, you just looked so...so...so _happy_.

“So maybe I kind of started to wonder if there might not be enough room for me in there, too, and then I started to wonder if I’ll ever be able to make you that happy. Not in the same way, though, because it’s not like I’m trying to compete with Itachi, since he’s your brother, and I’m definitely not trying to be your brother, but—”

“Naruto.”

“...yeah?”

“Remind me what I ever saw in a loser like you.”

“Says the one who’s always so mean to me,” Naruto mutters, at the mishmash of paint and ink staining an expanse of faded blue peeking with one eye open, finger poking Sasuke in the side. “Am I ever anything else to you?”

“A hopeless idiot.”

“Who’s really the hopeless idiot here? Me or the guy who fell for me?”

“Still you. For not giving me a choice.”

Ducking from underneath Sasuke’s head, Naruto lifts his gaze, exposing a wide grin teetering on something dangerously close to being called cocky. “Couldn’t resist me, could you?” 

“Itachi once told me I shouldn’t be so emotionally standoffish when it came to people I didn’t know,” Sasuke says, sitting up and pulling his arms from around Naruto’s shoulders. “Falling for a brash idiot like you, though, I don’t think that’s what he had in mind.”

“Ha! I knew it—I just _knew_ it. You did tell him untrue things about me.”

“Hard to avoid mentioning the invasive guy who broke the shinai he gave me.”

“He knows about the shaman stick incident?” There’s this tiny little squeak slash mangled sounding gurgle Naruto really didn’t mean to let come out. “Were you intentionally trying to make me seem like a bad person? Is that the real reason why he kept staring at me?”

“Maybe.”

Taking a step back, Naruto sighs, pulling at the hem of a bright yellow shirt covering dark wash jeans, crossing his arms and letting the majority of his weight settle on his left foot. “After all this time, you’re never going to let me forget that one, are you?” 

“The day we first met, you don’t think it’s important enough to remember?”

“You know that wasn’t what I trying to— _ugh_ , you grudge-holding asshole, why do you always keep doing these things to me?”

Making a grab for Naruto’s hand, pulling Naruto’s arm away from his chest, Sasuke smiles with a soft laugh, their fingers entwined he raises to hold against his cheek. “I’ve said all I could about you to my brother.”

Naruto gives him a wary look. “...I’m almost afraid to ask what he thought about me the first time you said anything. Knowing you, though, I don’t think I even want to know what you said.”

“Mm, I told him about all the stupid things you say.”

“Just because you get embarrassed over some of the things I say about you doesn’t make them stupid.”

“So many of the stupid faces you make.”

“Don’t even try it. You know you live for my faces.”

His other hand cradling the back of Naruto’s head, fingers clutching blond hair, Sasuke lures him closer, lowering his mouth to place over Naruto’s.

Not exactly sweet, it’s short, barely even counts as a kiss with how long it doesn’t last, slightly more than just a peck, but there’s something affectionate about it, the same kind of understated affection behind Sasuke’s usual teasing, and the corners of Naruto’s mouth rise to form this ridiculously dopey grin he can’t help but show off.

“...have I ever told you how much I really like when you do that?” 

“Do what?”

Leaning forward, Naruto squeezes Sasuke’s hand, knuckles brushing against Sasuke’s cheek. “Prove just how irresistible I am to you.”

This time Sasuke does give into the urge to roll his eyes, dropping his arms and letting go of Naruto’s hand that just as soon catches his wrist. “My standards are lower than what they used to be.”

“Then I must have blown your mind considering you can’t seem to get enough of me, especially with the way you went at me last—”

“This coming from the same guy who claims my brother intimidates him.”

“Which he still does. Somehow, I’m having a really hard time imagining there being a lot of people who aren’t intimidated by him. But it’ll make me feel a whole lot better if you tell me how much you like me.”

“I’ve already said enough. I’m not saying anything else to you.”

“Come on, Sasuke. You know you want to, so just say it.” Naruto continues to move closer, pressing a smile against the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, thumb rubbing along the inside of Sasuke’s wrist. “Tell me how much you like me.”

“Tell me why I still bother to put up with you, first.”

“The same reason even now you still won’t push me away.”

Sasuke falters, but whatever was going to come out, he holds in. “...you’re always so...so Naruto.”

“Meaning what?”

It takes a second or two for Sasuke to say anything, but before he does, he raises his hand to hold the side of Naruto’s face, fingers moving almost unbearably slow trailing along Naruto’s sideburn, following the curve of his jaw, and then retracing their path back up to further ruffle strands of hair already sticking up every which way. “Meaning this.”

Naruto blinks. His head draws back a little, eyes narrowed in confusion. “My hair?”

“I like it this way.”

“What—messy? It’s always messy.”

“It is.” Hesitant, maybe even a little reluctant, Sasuke lets his hand fall away from Naruto’s hair. “But I don’t want you to change it.”

“It’s never what I like with you, is it?” Naruto snorts, thumb a gentle pressure pressing into Sasuke’s skin. “You’re lucky I don’t want to change it, either.”

“I know. That’s why I like it. That’s why I...” Trailing off, turning away from Naruto, Sasuke glances to the open doorway leading to the sitting room.

Naruto frowns. “...Sasuke?”

Lowering his gaze to the fingers curled around his wrist, Sasuke raises his head to meet Naruto’s eyes, a careful sort of uneven smile tugging at thin lips. “Itachi really does like you.”

“He does?”

Nodding, Sasuke makes this soft little hum.

“How do you know? Not that I don’t believe you. Still,” Naruto says, letting go of Sasuke’s arm. “I mean, I used to think you were hard to read, but with Itachi, in all seriousness, I really couldn’t tell with him. Is your whole family like that?”

“Not that I know of. I think Itachi’s somewhat more biased.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that.”

“Depending on his mood, I guess he can be a little intense sometimes, too.”

“A little intense?”

“Only a little.”

“You’re mocking me again, aren’t you?”

“Most of the time, he doesn’t even raise his voice. And it’s rare when he does.”

“That’s not doing a lot to improve my lack of warm and fuzzies right now,” Naruto says. “Then again, at least he isn’t one of those overprotective sibling types. Because I might be in that role soon, so I would know. The whole time he was here, I just kept waiting for him to give me _the talk_. You know, the one where if I hurt you, I don’t get to see the light of day anymore.”

“Stop being so melodramatic. My brother wouldn’t threaten you, Naruto. Especially over something like this. He’s not a violent person. More like a self-proclaimed pacifist.”

“Unlike you, you mean.”

“If you want to put it that way, then yeah.” With the heel of his palm, Sasuke gives Naruto a not so tender loving shove on the shoulder, conveniently deaf to the admittedly overstated cry of pain immediately dissolving into laughter as Naruto stumbles a few steps back. “Unlike me.” 

“Oh, now you tell me. Should have known. With how mean you are to me, it’s a wonder you guys are even related.”

“Considering the fact I grew up with Itachi, how often I’ve been told I take after him, it’s a wonder you even thought he could be intimidating.”

Naruto just gives him this blank stare, this sort of off-kilter deadpan look, because that was just uncalled for.

“Anyway, being able to see through my brother’s distorted sense of humour aside, as far as liking you goes,” Sasuke says, on the high and mighty side of amused, offering a knowing smile so very far from being subtle, “he told me.”

“I wish he told me this,” Naruto mutters.

“He did. In not so many words, maybe. But he thinks knowing you has been good for me.”

A sudden shot of warmth rushing to his cheeks, Naruto tries to laugh it off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Psssht. Of course knowing me’s been good for you. I’m the best for you—the only one for you. ”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Naruto says, wry. “It’s funny, though. I never worry about you meeting my family. When that time comes, I already know they’ll go crazy over you—who wouldn’t, right? But the day when I finally get to meet the rest of yours, I think I might actually be ready for that one now, especially your parents. Because after meeting Itachi, honestly, I don’t think it can get any worse.”

“Naruto, you don’t have to—”

“No, it’s not about that anymore. I’m over it. All I’m saying is, the unnecessary added element of surprise makes meeting your brother qualify as a very stressful experience for me.”

“Tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with you wanting Itachi’s approval.”

Naruto squints. “Is this another one of those trick questions?”

“Naruto.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Seriously, it doesn’t have a lot to do with whether or not he approves. Not all of it. I just think it’s nice he does. That’s it. And if he likes me, too? Well, don’t expect me to say no to that.”

“I won’t. As long as you don’t make this about needing my brother’s approval, that’s fine, because his opinion shouldn’t affect you to that kind of extent. He knows I’m too old for that. We’re both too old for that. And it’s not his place. He doesn’t have the final say in what I do.”

“But knowing Itachi likes me,” Naruto says, reaching to straighten the thick handle of the broad paintbrush tucked behind Sasuke’s ear, “it still means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

“Not in the way you’re assuming.” With a sigh, Sasuke raises his legs from over the edge and folds them on top of the counter. Yet even though he’s sitting right there, right in front of Naruto, he gets this real distant look in his eyes, this funny little thoughtful gaze that seems to take him too far away. “When I was younger, my brother was the first person I looked up to. I always thought he was just so...

“He was so smart. Honest. And strong. And funny. Confident. Compassionate. Modest. So many things I wasn’t sure I could ever be.”

“...you make him sound too good to be true,” Naruto says softly. “A little too perfect.”

“Maybe I used to think he was. Maybe in some aspects he still is, because he’s my older brother. I doubt that part of me who still admires him will ever change. But no. No, he’s not perfect. Far from it. He’ll be the first one to tell you that. It’s just the kind of person my brother’s always been. He’s just...Itachi.”

“Still. You’re practically gushing over him. I don’t know how I think that should make me feel.”

Out comes another sigh, this hushed hum, an already quiet sound that somehow seems that much softer. “At one point, my entire world seemed to revolve around the smiles he’d give me,” Sasuke says. “My mom used to call me his little shadow because I’d always try to go wherever he went. But my brother meant everything to me. I wanted nothing more than to be just like him. And I did anything I could to spend time with him. 

“Eventually, somewhere along the line, he became someone I wanted to surpass. Then I did everything to convince myself I was going to be better than him one day.

“Looking back, it’s actually...” Sasuke laughs a little, challenging Naruto’s open show of concern with this bad attempt at a smile that just comes out strained. “It all seems so stupid now, but I guess that’s just how stupid I was back then.

“For the longest time, he’d always tell me I shouldn’t try to be more like him, that to be a better person I only had to be myself, but there was a turning point when I was eleven, that summer he decided to move out on his own. The childish part of me refused to listen to him anymore, because I didn’t think there was anything he could say that would actually make a difference. After growing up constantly being compared to Itachi, it was hard not to see him as a hypocrite when the rest of our family didn’t seem to have a problem reminding me how different I was from my brother.

“Wanting to be better than him was never enough, though. Whatever I accomplished wasn’t even remotely on the same level as anything Itachi did. But before I began my last year in high school, even after he left for New York, despite him no longer being in Japan, I realised I just couldn’t stay in Yamaguchi. It’s one of the reasons I left. At home, I knew nothing I did could ever bring me close enough to compare to my brother.”

“Sasuke...”

“But coming to Tama, being on my own for the first time, I’m starting to learn it’s okay to be myself. And now that I’m beginning this part of my life with you, I...”

A hand over his forehead, Sasuke looks down at his lap, running his fingers through dark hair he pushes away from his face, lips pursed to try to cover up this almost tentative smile that doesn’t quite disappear.

It’s a nervous tell Naruto’s learned to pick up on, this rare habit Sasuke has whenever he gets insanely shy about admitting something, too shy to even resort to the usual violence that pretty much ends up with Naruto on the receiving end of some kind of not so harmful bodily harm—but it’s this part of Sasuke he knows he gets to keep all to himself, this part of Sasuke he doesn’t have to be selfish about not wanting anyone else to see, and when Sasuke looks back at him with that soft expression in his eyes, with that quiet certainty meant only for him, it’s in that one smile Naruto swears he manages to catch a glimpse of the rest of his life.

“...so seeing Itachi again for the first time in years, and then having the opportunity to introduce you to him, yeah, in that sense, it really does mean a lot to me.”

It actually sounds...sweet, he wants to say, nearly does say, but then changes his mind and doesn’t, because outside of sex, Sasuke still gets uncomfortable way too easily over those sappy kinds of relationship type things Naruto’s known to throw around on occasion, and even calling him cute every once in a while is threatening to push the envelope.

Instead, what comes out is this:

“That you’re openly acknowledging the fact you willingly associate with me, I feel like I’m in one of those Korean dramas you like so much, in the middle of some kind of special long-awaited confession that only happens during the end of the episode.”

“Do you always have to be such a dork?” Sasuke says, digging in the small bag beside him for a piece of Naruto’s candy he unwraps and puts in his mouth, sucking on the candy as sour as the glower on his face. “I should have kicked you out the day we moved here.”

“You almost did.”

“Still don’t know why I didn’t.”

“Because you’ve been waiting a lifetime for this one moment to get the chance to introduce me to your brother.”

“You’re exaggerating again. Don’t make yourself seem so important.”

“But it’s true,” Naruto says, the teasing grin that starts to stretch across his face growing wider by the second. He leans closer, two fingers tapping out an imaginary drum solo on Sasuke’s calf exposed by the hem of black sweatpants rolled up to his knee. “And going by what you said earlier, Itachi seems to think you’ve been waiting for me all this time, too.”

“When’d I say anything about—” Sasuke lets out a frustrated scowl, closing his eyes he immediately reopens with a less than convincing glare that somehow still has the power to remind Naruto a little too much of Itachi’s very persuasive smile.

Which is his only warning before he’s on the receiving end of another hard shove on the shoulder.

“Ease up a little, would you.”

“Get away from me.”

“I bet this is one of those blind hero-worshipping cases, isn’t it,” Naruto says, arm reaching to Sasuke’s left for the moderate-sized electric kettle that doesn’t work as fast as it should sitting on the next counter over. He opens the lid while heading towards the sink, holding the kettle under the faucet then turning on the water with a nudge from his forearm. “Still seeing Itachi as your childhood idol after all this time, I’m starting to think you have some sort of complex.”

“I never stopped thinking you need to learn to stop talking.”

“You get so touchy about your brother, you know that.” Grin light, grip on the white handle tight, Naruto turns the water off and takes the kettle from the sink. He sets it down on the empty counter spaces closest to the fridge, plugging the cord into the wall and flipping the light grey switch to turn the kettle on. “Are you two still really that close?”

“I’m not a little kid following him around anymore, but...we’ve always been close. Although it may not be like it used to be, I don’t think our relationship has changed that much. It’s just been a while.”

“Is he staying in Narita long?” Opening a drawer, Naruto pulls out two pairs of disposable chopsticks, two of one too many they’ve managed to collect in the span of the three months since they moved in together.

“For the rest of the week. He’s only here on business, and then he’s heading back out Saturday, to Singapore.”

Closing the drawer, carefully, Naruto sets the chopsticks on the counter. “...oh.” 

“It’s fine. At least he’s closer now. He’s been trying to relocate near Yamaguchi, but who knows how long that’ll take. When he first left for America, he wasn’t even sure how long he’d have to stay.” 

“In the end, you still got to keep in touch, though, right?”

“He was always busy with his responsibilities. I had my own. Cram school, entrance exams, and then moving out. Because of the time difference and his hectic schedule, we kept up as much as we could. But to have him come back to Japan now—I didn’t even think I’d be able to see him again this soon. It’s more than I expected.”

“You said it’s been over two years. How’s that soon?” Naruto reaches for two Big Cup Noodle soups from on top of the fridge, grabbing one with each hand.

“Considering he started on his own, branching out overseas with a brand new company and succeeding in one of the most competitive global markets, more or less, I think that’s relatively soon.”

“As if going to the same school as you doesn’t make me look bad enough. Now you have to bring someone like your brother into the picture.” Naruto snorts, turning around to face Sasuke. “I guess this means I’m doing lunch.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

“You wouldn’t,” Naruto says. “Plan on sharing with me?”

The side of his face resting against his hand, elbow propped up on his knee, sceptical, Sasuke looks between the foam cups in Naruto’s hand, reading them with extreme prejudice. “Bacon Potato Mayonnaise and Chicken Rush?”

“It tastes pretty good when you put them together.” And it does. One of the few combinations that actually did when he and Kiba used to go out buying a bunch of random flavours and mixing them to see what turned out best.

Sasuke scrunches his nose. “Keep deluding yourself.” 

“As much as you steal my clothes you keep saying I should get rid of, or help yourself to my food you claim you don’t like _while_ I’m eating it, you’re only picky when you want to be.” Naruto laughs at the very highly uninspired expression on Sasuke’s face. “We still have some leftover coconut curry chicken from last night, though. Some of those meat and egg sandwiches from Minimart, too, if you want them before they go bad. A few pieces of that mayo shrimp cheese pizza. And then some stuff that might have been potato salad at one time. I think. Or pork. Or some other kind of food.”

“...we really need to start eating better than this.”

“Yeah, we really should,” Naruto agrees, nodding with a faint hum, because he knows for a fact Sasuke used to eat a lot better than this. “So. Bacon Potato Mayonnaise or Chicken Rush?”

There’s a small twitch to Sasuke’s lips, a slight curve that settles into a smile. He sits up a little, unfolding his legs and letting them hang over the counter his hands grip by the edge. “What kind of choice is that?”

“Unless you feel like cooking...”

“I don’t feel like cooking.”

“But I thought you liked cooking.”

“Not when I’m still in the middle of a painting I haven’t even started working on. Why don’t you cook?”

“I would, but let’s face it,” Naruto says, emptying his hands of the Cup Noodles he places on the counter, “while your cooking _might_ poison us, there’s an even better chance mine probably will kill.”

There’s a long pause, a seemingly substantially long pause that comes right before the slight roar of boiling water, broken into by the audible click of the kettle’s tab popping up, and cut off short by the high-pitched melody signifying the end of the boiling process.

Which a straight-faced Sasuke interrupts by throwing a piece of hard candy at Naruto’s face that nearly takes out his eye.

“Hey! What was that for? I said my cooking was worse than yours, didn’t I?”

“You always eat what I cook.”

“Yeah, and I’m willing to take a chance on my life each time because that’s how much I really like you.”

Reaching for one of the small foam cups stacked neatly by his side, Sasuke picks it up and reads the label, turning over the cup in his hand. “You bought this for me.”

“Thought you might like it.”

Sasuke extends his arm towards Naruto, motioning the packaged organic tofu and miso ramen in his hand. “Here.”

“...is it safe to come near you?”

“Do you think it’d be safer for you not to?”

“All right, all right. Jeeze,” Naruto says, two then three steps forward, taking the small foam cup, “what is with you today.” He taps the inside of Sasuke’s leg, hand sliding up, palm resting over Sasuke’s knee, but he’s caught off guard when Sasuke reaches for his face, both hands drawing him in for another kiss, this time not so sweet, Sasuke all but swallowing him whole, trying to devour his soul, and really, he can think of much worse ways to go.

It’s too soon when Sasuke pulls away, so Naruto dives back in, mouth covering Sasuke’s murmur of surprise to kiss him again. And again. His fingers curl around Sasuke’s shirt, keeping him within reach until Sasuke starts to laugh, soft, hands still holding Naruto’s face close but making sure he’s just far enough away.

“Naruto.”

Naruto blinks, once, twice, getting a grip on the cup of noodles he almost drops. “Huh?”

“...thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being you.”

“For being me? I thought I was just a hopeless idiot too irresistible to resist.”

“You are. At least the idiot part, but...”

“Not like you know how to resist me, anyway.” Naruto indulges in a shameless grin. 

Biting on his lip, Sasuke gives this little smile back. “Let me ask you something.”

“What?”

“...how do you feel about weddings?”


	33. When You Say the Words That I Can't Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“And what makes you think I’d even need to rely on a clumsy guy like you?”_

“Suigetsu said I’d find you up here.”

Caught off guard by the familiar voice, hands on either side of him pressing hard into the ground, Sasuke turns around and looks up, more than a little surprised to see Naruto standing near the top of the short flight of concrete steps. “...you were looking for me?”

“Course I was.” Lips pursed, with a quick glance to his right, Naruto shoves his hands into the pockets of a light grey jacket. He takes a step down, following with another two then three until he reaches the bottom of the stairs leading to the narrow enclave on the roof.

“Why wouldn’t I be looking for you?” No more than a few more steps away from where Sasuke’s sitting, he pauses, the slight creases along his forehead becoming more prominent. He gives Sasuke a funny look, features marred with a confusion quickly curbed by the beginnings of an easygoing smile. “You got my message, right?”

“Yeah.” Feet flat on the ground, legs spread apart, Sasuke shifts against a tall wall of old and greying brick, knees enclosed by his arms held together by the fingers of his left hand wrapped loosely around his right wrist. “I did.”

“I told you I was going to be held up finishing some prints in the dark room, so I just got here.” Long strides carry Naruto forward. Beneath the floodlight overhead, one more step then two and he’s in front of Sasuke, peering down at Sasuke, still smiling an easygoing smile that tightens slightly on the left corner to become a deliberate sort of half grin. “I know parties aren’t your necessarily thing, but I thought you were at least going to wait for me to show up before you left.”

“As often as you like to invite yourself over here, you do realise Kenji and I live in the same apartment complex. Or did that conveniently slip your mind like everything else does?”

“Eh, minor details.”

“Minor details?”

“Very minor details. Extremely minor details.” With a low hum and an absent nod, Naruto rocks back on his heels, flexing his fingers furled inside his pockets. “Since when did all the little stuff in life start to matter, anyway?”

“A purist like you should know. If you took the rest of your classes as seriously as you did photography, you wouldn’t have to worry so much about falling behind at the end of the term.”

“When it comes to photography, I can be a little picky sometimes, maybe. Which isn’t to say it’s a bad thing like you’re trying to make it out to be.” Abrupt, Naruto stops moving. He crosses one foot over the other and begins to lower himself to take a seat on the ground. “But the way I see it, it’s the big stuff that really cou—” Tripping over what can only be described as _air_ , eyes wide, he yelps, hands flailing in a failed attempt to keep from losing his balance, but it’s the strong grip on his arm that doesn’t let him completely fall.

Save for the near mishap that almost led to the collision between his head and a brick wall (there’s some kind of underlying conceit, Sasuke knows—with someone like Naruto, there has to be) Naruto makes a relatively safe landing, legs crossed and arms outstretched, body hunched forward still as his eyes dart from side to side. “Nobody saw that.”

“Smooth, Naruto. Real smooth.”

“Yeah, yeah, kick me while I’m down,” Naruto grumbles, his entire face flushed a bright red that manages to reach the tips of his ears. “Nobody can be cool all the time.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“No, I’m speaking for you, too. _Especially_ you.”

Releasing Naruto’s arm, Sasuke snorts. “Are you okay?”

Naruto prolongs an already exaggerated sigh, sitting up then letting his shoulders slump a little, bringing his arms over his lap. “Where does having my pride hurt put me?”

Elbows bent over his knees, Sasuke drops his forehead against his arm. “Same place you’d be if you didn’t think pride was an issue.”

“Don’t try to hide. I can see you laughing at me just fine from here.”

Lifting his head, lips pressed together unable to hold back a smile, Sasuke keeps his mouth hidden behind his arm. “I’m not the one who fell for no apparent reason.”

“Thanks, Sasuke.” Naruto gives him a flat glare. “No, really. Thank you. Not like I wanted to impress you, anyway,” he mutters, traces of a blush finally beginning to fade. Shifting in place, his knee bumps against Sasuke’s leg, and he looks down, trying to settle into a more comfortable position. “My legs are going to fall asleep sitting like this for too long.”

Restless, he starts to fidget, raising his knees then eventually deciding to lower his legs only to end up crossing them again. “This place is a tight fit, don’t you think?

“It’s comfortable enough.”

“Look here, you. Don’t even start with that comfortable enough crap.” Blue eyes narrow, taking on a playful gleam, and Naruto leans over, trying to expose the rest of Sasuke’s face with a sharp tug to the sleeve of Sasuke’s dark red pullover. “You don’t get to have an opinion. You actually have a thing for unreasonably cramped spaces, so your comfort level doesn’t count.”

Back pressed against the wall, lifting his head, Sasuke responds with another smile, a subtle quirk of his lips that takes its time in going away. “...what really brought you out here, Naruto?”

“Ah, that. Already told you, didn’t I? “Mouth not quite set in a frown, Naruto sits upright, pulling on his earlobe. “I guess it just sort of feels like everybody’s been too busy this month. It’s been what—almost two weeks since any of us really got together? I haven’t even seen that much of Kiba lately. But when Kenji said he was throwing a party at his place, now that midterms are over, I was really looking forward to getting a chance to hang out and let loose, you know.”

“It’s more your scene, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is, but if I wanted to be down there right now, I wouldn’t have come all the way up here looking for you.” Hand dragging along the top of his thigh, palm curving over his knee, this time Naruto does frown. “Although I think the question I should really ask is, what are you doing out here?”

“Trying to get away from you.”

“So you got jokes, huh. I see how it is.” Squinting, Naruto scoots closer, indulging in a careless invasion of Sasuke’s personal space. Arms hanging over his lap, hands clasped, he leans forward, one leg pressing against both of Sasuke’s own. “You can’t just decide to get rid of me whenever you feel like it. That’s not how it’s supposed to go.”

Sasuke folds one leg down, right foot tucked behind his left. Away from Naruto, he presses himself further against the wall, putting between them as much distance as he can, creating what little space he still can until their legs no longer touch. “Whether I want to get rid of you or not, I doubt it’s even worth the effort to try anymore.”

“Sure, sure, that’s what you always say. In this case, though, flattery won’t work on me.”

Tilting his head back, with a sigh, Sasuke closes his eyes, gaze unseeing raised towards the sky.

“You all right?”

Sasuke lets out a soft hum, right arm slack at his side, his other arm pulled around his left knee. There’s a faint rustle of fabric, followed by a subtle shift in the air in front of him, Naruto once more moving closer to him, and Sasuke can’t help the involuntarily shiver when again Naruto’s leg brushes against his knee.

He starts at the feel of hands grabbing his, eyes opened growing the slightest bit wide. “Naru—”

“Almost thought I lost you there for a second.”

“What are you doing with my hands?”

“Getting you warm.”

Sasuke blinks, slowly letting his other leg fall.

“You don’t like being cold, remember.” With a firm squeeze, bringing their hands closer to his chest, Naruto grants Sasuke a simple smile. “It makes you all cranky and stuff.”

“Stop calling me cranky.”

Naruto just laughs. “Does this mean we’re back to officially being friends?”

“...you’re making things up for your own convenience,” Sasuke murmurs, staring at his hands being held in Naruto’s own. “I don’t like you as much as you seem to think I do.”

“But I know you do. Because we go together.” Rubbing the outside of Sasuke’s hands, Naruto’s fingers slide up and down along Sasuke’s wrists not covered by his sleeves. “See? The way your hands fit mine, almost like you and me were—”

“If you compare me to pork ramen again, more than just your misplaced pride’s going to suffer tonight.”

Naruto retaliates with a nearly disarming grin. “You’re just jealous of my totally awesome analogy-making skills.”

“Because I enjoy being compared to food. Yes, that’s exactly why.”

“Then how about sticky on ric—”

“No, Naruto.”

Sill grinning, Naruto blows air over Sasuke’s hands he raises level with his mouth. “You’re such a killjoy.” 

The heat from Naruto’s breath sends prickles over Sasuke’s fingers, a tingling sensation that causes his knuckles to throb, shoots up his arms to become a flurry of warmth too light this feeling suddenly too tight settling heavily in his chest. It’s never bothered him before, Naruto doing these kinds of things that have become so commonplace, this closeness between them nothing out of the ordinary, and yet somehow...

With a sharp inhale, he snatches his hands away. 

Naruto leans forward, brow furrowed. “Something wrong?”

“Static, I...it was static.”

“Sorry, I—” A light blush colouring his cheeks, glancing down, with two fingers, Naruto begins to tap on his knee. He looks up with a nervous smile, hand stilling on the side of his leg. “I didn’t mean to—”

“You didn’t,” Sasuke blurts out, not too loud but all too sudden, the words hasty and impulsive that take even him by surprise. Quiet, a little self-conscious beneath Naruto’s blatant stare, he grapples with a wary resolve, waiting to exhale. “It wasn’t you, I mean. When you—I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“So keeping you from getting cold, doing this, that’s okay then, right?” Confusion displaced by a tentative smile, again, Naruto reaches for Sasuke’s hands, but this time Sasuke pulls away, hands retreating to his lap and out of Naruto’s reach. 

“It’s not that cold.”

“...oh.” There’s a sort of disappointment layered beneath the words, a minute uncertainty in Naruto’s voice that doesn’t belong, but he recovers with another smile, another twitch at the corner of his lips alarmingly at ease, with that same annoying persistence so easily taken for granted, because even now, Naruto won’t let Sasuke push him away. “Well, yeah, that’s because I already got you warmed up. Obviously.” 

“Hardly.”

“Heh. I’m going to remember that the next time you use me as your substitute heater.”

Looking down, Sasuke dismisses the mock threat with a light snort, fingers taking hold of Naruto’s shoelaces slightly loose he undoes and reties. When Naruto starts to complain about the dangers of being around unfairly demanding people like Sasuke who already have two strikes against them on top of being the excessively fussy personality types, with the bottom of his fist, Sasuke cuffs the inside of Naruto’s shoe.

At first Naruto doesn’t move, doesn’t even flinch, but then he laughs, a low sounding chuckle that soon fades and with it the traces of a blithe smile it doesn’t take much for Sasuke to imagine he can see. “...hey.”

Hands returning to his lap, Sasuke peers up, straightening the sleeves of the pullover just long enough to fall over the back of his hands. “Mm?”

“I know it probably seems like I unload on you sometimes. Or maybe a lot, I think I should say, but—” Careful fingers reach behind Sasuke’s ears, seize the sides of Sasuke’s oversized hood and pull it over his head. “If there’s something bothering you, whatever it is, if you want to tell me ,it doesn’t...I wouldn’t mind if you relied on me for those kinds of things.”

Sasuke offers a wry smile almost a smirk that barely tugs at the corner of his mouth. “And what makes you think I’d even need to rely on a clumsy guy like you?”

Undeterred, Naruto’s doesn’t break his gaze. “Because I want you to know that you can.”

It seldom fails to catch him unaware, being the focus of that kind of single-minded attention, that kind of resolute deference he doesn’t know what to do with despite this friendship with Naruto he still doesn’t know why it makes him feel uneasy at the thought of not being able to do without.

Yet as he tries to draw back, Naruto’s still there because he hasn’t let go, face already so close carried even closer by the small tug from his grip on the thick material of Sasuke’s hood, the pads of Naruto’s thumbs mere brushes simply near touches that somehow threatens to throw him completely off-kilter so very far away from the purview of his entire world gradually coming apart at the seams.

And he falters.

“Really, Sasuke. I mean it.”

There’s a quiet pulsation in his chest. It’s a hushed sort of anticipation, the constant repetition of this incredibly stupid noise that plays too loud in his ears and only continues to grow louder the more still he makes his body become. Yet for a moment he lets his mind wander, and a very small part of him begins to wonder if Naruto’s listening carefully enough to hear it, too, on and on that erratic, unrelenting sound, if that’s why he can’t quite place the unfamiliar expression in blue eyes—but then he forces himself to stop.

“...you can let go now.”

“I guess I should,” Naruto whispers.

“You should.”

“Yeah. I’m just not sure my hands will let me right now.”

“What are you trying to pull, Naruto? Stop playing around. Let go.”

“I already told you. My hands, they won’t—”

“Why not?”

“...because I think I already forgot how.”

“Naruto, you—”

But Naruto’s hands are gone. They disappear with the momentary brush of his fingers against Sasuke’s cheeks, leaving behind faint traces of a warmth no longer there, as if his hands were never there at all, and he lifts himself up only to settle right back down beside Sasuke.

Laughing like he usually does, plastered on his face a comfortable smile, he stretches out his legs, the toes of his shoes barely touching the wall on the other side of the enclave. “My legs were starting to fall asleep.” He raises one foot, flexing his shoe forward then back before setting it on the ground.

Both hands reaching behind his head, lips pursed, Sasuke lowers his hood, the material clutched tight between his fingers adjusting the collar to lie flat against the back of his neck.

“If you don’t want to talk to me about that kind of stuff, I get it,” Naruto says, heaving a sigh, smile disappeared. “That’s fine, too. I’m not—I won’t try to push you into something like that. It’s just, recently, I’ve been starting to notice that you do this sort of thing a lot.”

Letting go of his hood, slowly, Sasuke feels himself begin to relax. “Do what?”

“The whole—” Naruto makes an offhand gesture with a careless wave of his hand. “Going-off-on-your-own thing. Holed up in a place like this by yourself.”

“...it’s somewhere quiet to think.”

“Is it really?”

Unfolding his left leg he raises, Sasuke props his elbow on his knee, head lowered, fingers loosely curled into his palm resting against his cheek. “Most of the time, I like to think it is.”

“It’s nice, though. I’ll give you that much.” Naruto extends his arms above his head. He takes in deep breath in, releasing a heavier exhale, lowering his arms then doing a short series of backwards shoulder rolls. “I can see why you like to come out here. The last time I can even remember doing something close to this was when I was a snot-nosed kid.”

He snorts. “Me and my mom and my dad would camp outside, and we used to gamble on rice candy to see who was the fastest at counting the most stars, but on nights like these...” 

Shifting against the wall, catching sight of Naruto’s watchful gaze, Sasuke turns a little more towards him. “What is it?”

Still for a moment, Naruto blinks, glancing away and licking his lips. “Nothing. It’s nothing,” he says. “Just wish I’d brought my baby. If I knew I was going to be out here tonight, with this kind of natural lighting, being able to see the moon and the stars so well, I could’ve have gotten in some really good shots.”

“Don’t get any ideas. You’re not taking any more pictures of me.”

“Ch. Who said I’d even want to waste any more of my good film on you?”

Sasuke just gives him a blank stare.

“Don’t give me that look. The facial expressions you make, it’s your fault I—okay, so maybe I did manage to sneak in a couple more clicks than you wanted me to, but I can’t help that it happened to be the right moment at the right time.”

“You really expect me to believe that.”

“Eh, not unless you grew up around cameras like I did, which you didn’t, but after working behind the lens for so long, from that point of view, everything really does feel different.

“It’s like, even if you go in having that ideal image in your head, when you might think you know exactly what impression you want to make, it almost always seems to come down to those three or four frames you weren’t searching for, and sometimes, with only enough time to think between that one second and the next, your only choice is to either take the shot or lose it.”

Naruto raises his hands in his line of sight, creating two L-shapes with his fingers he puts together to form a makeshift square, taking an imaginary photo of the sky. “I mean, when you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of something really amazing, and you get the chance to bring out this certain characteristic that no one else’s ever been able to say they’ve seen before, it’s like finding the last great Wonder of the World, so you _have_ to take the shot.

“Because in that one perfect moment, in that one instance you’ll never have the chance to see again, even the scenery starts to look different. The people start to look different.”

Tongue pressed against the corner of his mouth, squinting with one eye open, he toggles with the simulated viewfinder to capture a frame of Sasuke’s face. “You look—”

“I look the same,” Sasuke says, pushing away Naruto’s hands. 

“Just hear me out for a sec. Wanting you to be the subject for my side projects, think of it like being a stepping stone for me. Let’s say, what if one day I decided I wanted to go into photojournalism, working for a world famous magazine or something? Except I got turned away in the middle of the job interview because I didn’t have enough qualifying experience with isolated close-up shots since you willingly chose not to be helpful during my time of need, so I’d just end up being forced to accept a life-threatening position on the night shift at some shady yakuza sponsored establishment?

“And whose responsibility would it be then, huh?”

Sasuke gives him a strange look. “How are you even—what part of that is actually supposed to make any—” Shutting his mouth, he breathes through his nose, refusing to let himself further attempt to understand Naruto’s haphazard logic. It’s a given he should know better not to even bother by now. “I thought one of your term projects for independent study was on cloudscapes?”

“It is. But you know I can’t do that forever. I have to branch out as much as I can. As soon as I can. And not just because it’s required for my core curriculum.”

“I’m still not going to be your guinea pig.”

“In this situation, muse sounds a lot better, don’t you think?”

“I’m assuming you want me to find a ledge to push you off.”

“Later, we can do all that later, all right, but for now, just so you know, one of my idols, Stieglitz, his muse did paintings, too. Not ink wash paintings like you, or even calligraphy, of course, and it might be an extremely fitting coincidence, sure, but they worked out pretty okay. For the most part. I think.”

“If quiet places inspire that kind of thinking, maybe this isn’t the right environment for you.”

Naruto sucks his teeth. “Anyway, for your information, those photos you let me take to help me with that sketch assignment for Genma’s class, because of all the thinking I put into it, I got an A. So _there_.”

“What’d you expect? It’s basically a pass or fail class. That’s not a real grade. Not to mention, Genma’s too lenient. He’s going to judge you much more on the effort that goes into completing an assignment rather than your intrinsic lack of artistic ability to even draw recognisable stick figures, much less expect you to take the time to at least pretend to make your name look legible.”

“...really, Sasuke? Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Last time I share any of my accomplishments with you,” Naruto mumbles. “Is there something special about me that just brings out the best in you, or has putting people down always been your idea of fun?”

“Only with you it is.”

“Oh?” A smile is slow to appear on Naruto’s face. He watches Sasuke with eager eyes far too bright, shuffling closer, wearing the near impossible kind of grin exceedingly pleased teetering on the verge of being unbearable. “So hanging out with me, that’s your idea of fun, is it?” 

Sasuke snorts, dropping his forehead on Naruto’s shoulder, but the he lifts his head, sharing with Naruto the slightest hint of a smile that sets in motion a quiet laugh managing to slip through closed lips. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

“Is this supposed to be your way of getting back at me for something I don’t even remember doing?”

“Dragging me all over Nakano to window shop for high-end camera lenses you’d need a loan to afford.”

“Hold on, hold on, didn’t I show you that little area with all those really neat art supply shops you took forever in? And didn’t I end paying for lunch? _Again_.”

“After being squished next to you on a crowded train, it was the least you could do.”

“The least I could—” With a dry snort, Naruto elbows Sasuke in the side. “Not that it bothers me that you’ve made a hobby out of making fun of me, because you’d probably still do it even if it did—”

“Probably.”

“—especially since you’re already so quick to agree with me, anyway, but even though you have this extremely bad habit of making yourself happy at my expense, sometimes, I really wish I knew how to...” Trailing off, Naruto pauses, brows knit, eyes slightly narrowed faraway lost in thought.

“There’s this part of me that wants to think it’s okay, that every time you give me a chance to see you sm—” Glancing to the side, he laughs, fingers running through his hair.

“...Naruto?”

“It’s just funny, you know,” Naruto says, turning back to Sasuke with an idle smile much slower to come. “The way some things happen to work out.” He gives a slight shake of his head. “Mostly what it does to me every time you smash what’s left of my pride.”

“I wouldn’t if you didn’t keep setting yourself up for it.” Left knee raised, Sasuke extends his other leg in front of him, letting his white right shoe fall against Naruto’s left blue one. “But it’d take me the rest of my life to even begin to put a dent in that thing you try to call pride.”

“Look who’s talking. A stuck-up guy who comes across like he knows everything doesn’t have room to say anything.”

“Because I think it’s fun to mess with you?”

“For someone who seems so smart, you can be pretty aggravating, you know that.” Around a smile, Naruto lets out a light scoff that quickly becomes a soft chuckle. “But yeah. Something like that, I guess—yeah.”

Left knee brought a little closer to his chest, arms crossed around his leg leaned towards his right, Sasuke hums, letting his head fall against Naruto’s shoulder.

“So, uh...” Naruto clears his throat. “You plan on staying out here much longer?”

“Just a little while. Not much, though. It’s not even eight yet. Early enough that I still have time to go back.”

“To the party?”

“Kenji wanted me to come, so I’m not trying to avoid it. I don’t want him to think I’m trying to avoid him right before he leaves.”

“That’s right. He decided he’s graduating early, didn’t he?”

“A design firm in London offered him an internship. Paid.”

“A paid architecture internship? Wow.”

“Yeah, I know.” Sasuke manages a little smile. “He’s already started looking into post-grad schools, too. There’re a lot of good MBA programmes over there.”

“Jeeze, graduation for us is still two years off, but it might as well be tomorrow the way Kenji’s going. It still feels like I just met him yesterday.”

“It’s something he’s wanted for a long time, though. And I’m happy for him, to have that kind of opportunity. But despite the fact I knew it was coming, when he told me about being accepted back in August, it’s just—I guess I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”

“So that’s why you’re...”

Intermittent pockets of light illuminate the rooftop of the building across from them, cutting through the broad expanse of shadowed grey, and Sasuke follows the light tapering in the distance, gaze drifting towards the stretch of darkness without any stars in the sky.

“...you don’t need to wait for me, Naruto.”

“Somehow, I feel like you’re trying to get rid of me again.”

“Is it working?”

“Aren’t you the one who said it’s pointless to even try anymore?”

“Most of the time it is. But you don’t have to force yourself to stay for my sake.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I don’t,” Naruto whispers. “Except I think you’re forgetting something.”

“Am I?”

“...just because I don’t have to stay, Sasuke, doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”


	34. What I Still Haven't Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“No, the guy just threatened to de-man me. With a plastic spoon.”_

It’s already late, nearly midnight, which is even later considering Naruto still has a shitload of homework due the day after tomorrow, so they decide to end their sort of guys’ night out at the poky little underground bar that everyone at Tama has to pop by at least _twice_ before graduating.

Practically a rite of passage, going there just to get completely trashed on the ridiculously strong whisky (rumoured to be the strongest brand in the Kanto region, offered semi-illegally, anyway), has been part of Hachiouji campus tradition since anyone can remember.

There’s supposedly a history there, though. Not that anyone actually seems to know what that history is, where it came from, or even what makes people so gung-ho about keeping up the practice of getting absolutely shitfaced for fun, but it’s been done long enough that even some of the faculty get involved every once in a while.

But after the leaving the bar, running on varying levels of comfortably buzzed, one considerably more smashed than the rest of them, they split up. Chouji goes with Kenji and Sho in one direction. The three of them left—four, including a freeloading Sasuke—go in the other.

“I feel like this is a very serious situation you guys just aren’t taking seriously right now.”

Or maybe it really will be just the three of them if Kiba doesn’t stop running his mouth complaining on and on about what almost didn’t happen to him.

If Naruto didn’t have to take care of a certain someone, then maybe he wouldn’t be thinking about resorting to drastic measures just to get Kiba to shut up.

“Shut up about it already,” Shikamaru says, a slight annoyance coming through his voice. Arm raised, elbow level with his hand, he scratches behind his ear with a finger. “Swaying as much as you are, shouldn’t you be too drunk to talk? Or even walk for that matter?”

“Being put through a severely near traumatic experience like that, you tend to sober up real qui—”

Suddenly, Kiba stops, only a few steps away from walking headfirst straight into a utility pole. Eyebrows bunched closer together, he stares at the pole for a quick second before his expression unexpectedly becomes thoughtful.

Thinking way too hard, entirely way too hard for this set of circumstances, he turns his head from side to side, looking both ways on the sidewalk. He starts to sway a little on his feet for a moment, but then he finally decides to just go around the pole, barely squeezing between a thin little tree and the large anti-littering sign encouraging passersby not to toss their trash in the city’s blind spots after turning the corner.

Somewhere along the line, though, eventually, Kiba does manage to find his place again walking along Naruto’s left side. “But at least I’m not so drunk that I need to hitch a ride.”

From Naruto’s other side, Shikamaru snorts.

“And here I thought he was going to be the one to drink us all under the table.” Hands raised clasped behind his head, Kiba spares a wary glance at Sasuke. “No, the guy just threatened to _de-man_ me. With a plastic spoon.”

“My plastic spoon,” Shikamaru says, like reminding them whose spoon it was really makes that much of a difference.

Accordingly, Kiba gives him the finger.

“Get over yourself.” Naruto grunts, bending his elbows some more to accommodate for the weight on his back. Long arms hooked underneath Sasuke’s knees, he hikes Sasuke a little further up, careful not to let his head bump against Sasuke’s face. “I warned you, didn’t I? Drunk or not, you shouldn’t have called him that. Period.”

Kiba sniffs, turning up his nose. “I thought he was going to be a boring drunk.”

“And look where that got you,” Shikamaru says.

Pretending not to hear Shikamaru, Kiba sends an unconvincing sort of not quite there half-glare Naruto’s way. “Besides, you’re the one who even started calling him that. Thanks to your regular complaining, that’s the only name I knew Sasuke by for the longest time, so if anything, it’s your fault if I end up slipping every now and then.”

“First of all,” Naruto says, “it’s not exactly a secret that Sasuke doesn’t like being called Himiko-bastard. Considering he doesn’t even let _me_ get away with it, you need some serious help in your life if you ever thought he was going to let _you_. More importantly, though, it’s not the same when you take the bastard out. Even I knew better than to mess with the bastard part of it. But that’s what you did.”

“And your point is? The guy tried to convince me, _too politely_ , that I’d be better off not having to worry about ever being able to get it up again, remember?”

“Only because you wouldn’t stop teasing him about a name you know he doesn’t like to be called,” Shikamaru says.

“Don’t you dare try to confuse me with logic while I’m in this state of mind.”

Shikamaru yields with a small smile, offering his hands in a show of mock surrender.

“And even if I was teasing him a little,” Kiba says, “only a little, still. You don’t just go around making fun of the sacred bond between a guy and his dog, man. It’s not cool.”

“You do if the guy is an alleged ladies’ man who claims to have the image appeal of an irredeemable bad boy despite the fact that his long distance relationship with his dog is still the most meaningful relationship he’s ever had.”

“Fuck off, Nara.” Dropping his arms, Kiba sports a broad smile that echoes the corners of Shikamaru’s mouth edging into a grin.

“It actually was pretty funny.”

“The way Sasuke said it,” Naruto adds, with a cheeky grin of his own, “yeah, it really was. But when he started whispering, and you started squeaking, when your voice got real high after he grabbed the spoon, I could’ve sworn my ears were getting ready to—”

“You know what? Don’t even quit while you’re ahead. You two keep right on making up all kinds of crap,” Kiba says, still smiling, quickly cutting in front of Naruto to walk beside Shikamaru. “But we all know you’re just mad because your lazy ass couldn’t even begin to _dream_ of coming close to scoring the sheer amount of tail I do.”

“And yet somehow, I still get more than you’ve ever had.”

“Like it’s even possible for me to get stuck in the middle of a dry spell. That’d just be inhumane.” Kiba scoffs. “Although for you, I guess all the girls finally found out you’re the useless kind of guy who’d lie back and make them do all the work.”

Shikamaru lets out an amused snort, reaching into his back pocket to pull out a pack of gum.

“For a guy who likes to gloat as much as you do, your so-called reputation precedes you,” he says, opening a single stick of gum and popping it in his mouth. “Greatly.”

“Heh. I bet even a total sap like Naruto manages to get more action than you. Or at least he probably would be tapping something other than that right hand of his if he wasn’t so busy spending all his free time with Sasuke.”

“Don’t even try me, Kiba,” Naruto says. “The most action you’re even lucky enough to get is watching a girl run away screaming after she finds out you’re all shrivelled up down there.”

The pack of gum back in his pocket, Shikamaru covers his mouth with his hand, but it doesn’t do a thing to stop the slosh of poorly suppressed laughter that comes through.

“Oh, yeah, well...well, you can fuck off, too, Uzumaki.” Recovering from his own unrepressed fit of laughter, Kiba makes another rude gesture with his finger, this time pointing it towards Naruto. “All this proves is that you really do spend too much time with Sasuke.”

Naruto makes a low noise in agreement, giving Kiba a slow nod. “Then again, anything beats having to deal so much with you. It feels like I see you at least seven days a week. And then some.”

“Tch. Shows what you know. If anything, there’s not enough of me to go around.” Kiba thumps his chest with one hand, palm pressed flat against the zipper of his green jacket. “Who wouldn’t want a piece of me?”

Still chewing on his gum, Shikamaru pushes it from one side of his mouth to the other. “Isn’t that what Sasuke was doing earlier? Trying to get a piece of you?”

“Okay, since when did you decide to turn into such a smartass?”

Shikamaru shrugs. “It seems to help pass the time.”

Naruto snorts, stepping onto the wide, paved trail leading them to the entrance of a small little park. It’s the empty kind of open space Sasuke likes to visit from time to time, this park marking the halfway point to their apartment building, but it’s only one of many scattered throughout the city. “You didn’t actually think he’d do that to you, did you?”

“Nah, I know him better that,” Kiba says. “He’s normally a real nice guy. When it comes to people who aren’t you, anyway. Pretty much everyone except you, Naruto. But I mean, hey, I like Sasuke and all. Just not up close and personal enough to give him a free ride on my back.”

“What—you seriously expected me to just leave him there passed out on the table?”

“I don’t see why not. And if it was you that piss drunk instead of Sasuke, I definitely wouldn’t be going the distance.”

“So you’d just leave me there?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“See, Kiba. This is why people like me and you can’t be friends.”

Kiba laughs, briefly veering off the cemented pathway, taking the long way around a wooden bench before returning back to Shikamaru’s side. “I don’t see what you’re getting so hung up about. It’s not like anyone forced the responsibility on you.”

“The rest of you guys didn’t give me a choice,” Naruto says, leaning in front of Shikamaru a little to give Kiba a wry stare.

“You’re the one who told us to stop trying to wake Sasuke up,” Shikamaru is oh so very unhelpful to point out.

“Because it was obvious he wasn’t going to,” Naruto sputters, unconsciously tightening his grip supporting Sasuke’s legs around his waist. “And I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit there all night waiting for him to sleep it off. Meaning _somebody_ had to take care of him.”

“As long as you knew to count me out.” With both hands, Kiba flips up the collar of his jacket and then folds it back over.

“Never even bothered to count you in,” Naruto mutters.

Kiba grins, lowering his arms. “Either way, that’s what Sasuke has a friend like you for, right.”

Eyes slightly narrowed, Naruto ducks his gaze, stepping over colourful leaves fallen from the trees bordering the edges of the path. A thoughtful frown pulls down at the corner of his mouth, and he looks up, staring straight ahead. “...I guess it is.”

“I take it Sasuke’s crashing with us then,” Shikamaru says around a deliberate little smile, reaching in his pocket for another stick of gum. 

“Only because our place is a lot closer than his.” Naruto blinks, glancing at Shikamaru. “You don’t mind, do you? I mean, not to throw it all on you so suddenly like this. I have another futon Sasuke can use, and I’ll make space for him in my room, so you don’t have to worry about that, but if you’re not—”

“Doesn’t bother me in particular.” Shikamaru offers a casual shrug. “He’s always been nice enough to me.” Near a small, nondescript garbage bin, he pauses to throw away the gum wrappers crumpled in his palm, setting his gaze on a dead to the world Sasuke relaxed against Naruto’s back. “You should be more worried about yourself. Sasuke may be completely out of it now, but you’re the one he’s going to turn to when he wakes up.”

“Yeah, I know, I know.” Naruto breathes out with an exaggerated sigh, again lifting his arms to shift Sasuke’s weight when Sasuke starts to lean too far to the side. “So unfair.”

Gesturing towards Shikamaru’s pocket, Kiba tries to bum a stick of gum. “You shouldn’t pretend to look so put out, Naruto,” he says, accepting his gum with a smile when Shikamaru rolls his eyes at him. “That’s just how these things go, isn’t it. Not like you don’t know what to expect from Himi—”

“Stop calling him that, Kiba. Seriously.”

“No need to make a big deal out of it. The guy can’t even hear me.”

“Look, I don’t care if he can hear you or not. You already know Sasuke doesn’t like it, so you don’t need for me to tell you not to call him that anymore, all right.” 

“Oi, Naruto. What’s up with this change in attitude all of a sudden? You know I’m just being—”

“Why?” Cutting Kiba off, in the middle of the path Shikamaru comes to a stop, letting himself fall behind a few steps until Naruto and Kiba take notice.

Kiba following beside him, Naruto turns around, walking back towards Shikamaru. “Why what?”

“Why are you suddenly making such a big deal out of a name you used to call Sasuke all the time?”

“Uh, because he doesn’t like it,” Naruto says, both eyebrows raised. “Whatever you’re trying to get at here, I’m not following.”

“But since he’s not even awake to care, is it really a matter of him not liking it, or more so that you don’t like anyone else calling Sasuke the name you gave him?”

Caught off guard by the suddenness of the question he doesn’t know how to answer, Naruto doesn’t speak, for a second or two doesn’t breathe.

He doesn’t move a muscle.

“...you like him, don’t you?”

“Picking now of all times to act so weird, Shikamaru,” Kiba says. “Asking that sort of obvious question, what rock have you been living under for the past two years?”

“Y-yeah, what Kiba just said.” Naruto gives a shaky laugh, trying to brush off Shikamaru’s calculating stare. “Of course I like Sasuke. He’s practically my best friend. I wouldn’t be dragging him all the way back to our place if I didn’t like him.”

Unfortunately, despite Shikamaru’s self-declared laziness, he’s not as unobservant as most people immediately tend to write him off to be. It figures someone like him would be one of those too curious annoyingly perceptive kinds of drunks.

Still staring, he gives a slight shake of his head. “No, Naruto. I mean, you actually _like_ him.”

Frowning, Kiba glances between Shikamaru and Naruto, but the confusion on his face is quickly replaced by surprise, and he makes a garbled sort of choking sound, eyes growing increasingly wide. “You mean like one of those onetime guy crushes or something?”

Without another word, without a second thought, Naruto turns around and promptly walks himself out of the conversation. As fast as he can, as far as he can go until he’s sure Shikamaru and Kiba will forget about having brought it up in the first place.

Except it’s hard to get very far away anywhere near fast enough while he’s still carrying Sasuke on his back and trying not to wake him up.

He doesn’t even make it to the lamppost near the park’s exit before Kiba and Shikamaru catch up to him.

“It was only a question, Naruto.” The worst kind of knowingly amused smile starts to play on Shikamaru’s lips. “Getting so worked up over one guy, you could’ve easily just said no.”

“Maybe not,” Kiba says slowly, from Shikamaru’s other side giving Naruto a somewhat sympathetic look. “Someone with your faulty, depressingly dried up track record, you probably haven’t even told Sasuke yet, have you?”

Naruto clenches his jaw. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”

“Well, whatever you don’t know what we’re talking about, you’re still carrying him on your back, you know.”

“Me and Sasuke, we’re not—it’s not...it’s not like that between us, okay.”

Ignoring Naruto’s protest, Kiba turns to Shikamaru. “Looking back at all the signs, now that I can see Naruto’s sad attempts at flirting for what they really are, the whole thing kind of comes across like some plot from a chick manga, don’t you think?”

“And what would you know about that kind of manga?” Shikamaru says.

“Study material I read up on during middle school. Back then, my sister used to make me pick up the ones she liked on my way home. That’s when I first found out about what a lot of girls think they want in a guy.” Kiba wriggles his eyebrows. “Had to get my start somewhere, you know.” 

Shikamaru snorts. “Again with the playboy character.”

“Although going for a domineering guy like Sasuke,” Kiba says, leering at Naruto, “I wouldn’t have pictured you for being into the S&M scene.”

Imagination getting the best of him, planting all kinds of too highly suggestive and far too realistic images he hasn’t even had the chance to prepare himself to think about, Naruto feels his entire face start to burn red.

It just burns. Completely burns with a red he can actually _feel_ , spreading from his face to light up the rest of his body, but while he might not be on the verge of bursting into flames, it doesn’t necessarily rule out the impossible risk of his skin being permanently stained.

And then Kiba starts running off his mouth again, putting even more things in Naruto’s head that he’s trying really, really hard not to put too much thought into maybe possibly being able to have the chance to do with Sasuke some day in the future, because in the right here and now, he’s still carrying Sasuke on his back.

“—ask him out, it’ll be like doing two things at once. So then you can keep spending too much time with Sasuke, but instead of having to depend on all those nightly solo acts to get off, you can finally start looking forward to the real kind of repeat performa—”

“ _You fucking asswipe_ , _shut the hell up before Sasuke hears you_.”

Like seeing Naruto so thoroughly embarrassed is simply the funniest thing in the world, Kiba just beams. “Of all people, you want to go chasing after Sasuke. I can’t believe you’re trying to—shit, man, you’re blushing like a little kid. You’re totally _blushing_.” 

“I already said it’s not like that between us, didn’t I. And I’m not blushing. It’s the alcohol.”

“Yeah, right. You didn’t even drink that much. And no way with that freaky high metabolism thing you got going on, but this isn’t some onetime guy crush. You like Sasuke. You really do like him.”

“Okay, yeah, well, maybe I kind of sort really like Sasuke more than I probably should like another guy—so what? Liking Sasuke that way, it just happened to happen. You got a problem with that or something?”

“Aw, look, he’s even getting all defensive about it.” Kiba throws an ear-splitting grin at Shikamaru. “Our wittle Naruto has a crush on his favourite little Himiko-bastard.”

“ _You_.” Completely bypassing a smiling Shikamaru, Naruto aims his glare directly at Kiba. “I already told you not to call Sasuke that anymore. I’m not telling you again.”

Making a fist to cover his mouth, clearing his throat, Kiba imitates his best professional sounding voice. “After further testing the data, Dr. Nara, based on the patient’s symptoms, I’ve concluded that Mr. Uzumaki is suffering from a typical case of oversensitive boyfriend type behaviour.”

Shikamaru makes a low noise in agreement, paired with a firm nod. “Yes, yes, Dr. Inuzuka, that does seem to be the true nature of his present condition,” he says, eyes bright, barely able to keep a straight face. “Although Mr. Uzumaki’s responses can still be considered part of the initial denial stage, won’t you agree?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Naruto grumbles, repositioning Sasuke’s arm slung over his chest. “It’s all fun and games now, but you two better be glad I’m carrying Sasuke, because that’s the only thing preventing me from running both your asses into the ground.”

“With some of the weird stares you’re starting to attract,” Kiba says, “maybe we shouldn’t be standing so close to an untrustworthy looking guy who might try to do questionable things to Sasuke.”

“The hell are you even trying to—”

“You think Naruto’s moving too fast with this?” Shikamaru shares a thoughtful glance with Kiba, one that turns into a look of mutual understanding. “Unless slow for the rest of us should be considered too fast for him.”

“How fast are these kinds of things even supposed to happen?” Kiba muses, putting on airs. “For Naruto, even someone with my experience doesn’t know. But I mean, coming up with that kind of sham date, bringing your boyfriend to a bar with the clear intention of taking him back home drunk,” he says, “that sounds pretty questionable to me.”

“Just because Sasuke’s too nice to actually hurt you, Kiba, don’t you start thinking I won’t.”

“Will you, though?” Shikamaru says. “After all, deliberately causing a scene in public, Sasuke wouldn’t appreciate being part of that, would he?”

Kiba snickers, hand placed over the side of his mouth as he turns towards Shikamaru. “Hey, hey,” he says, in a supposed whisper that effectively becomes a very loud non-whisper, “if Naruto’s face gets any redder, do you think it’ll eventually make his hair turn orange?”

With a series of patchy snorts, shoulders shaking, Shikamaru just about loses it.

“No, no, seriously, just look at him—look at him.” Too eager, no more than a downright giggling mess, Kiba points a finger at Naruto. “He’s so red that he’s actually glowing in the dar—quick, w-walk ahead of us, Rudolph, so we won’t accidentally get lost crossing the street.”

Evading Kiba’s hand shooing him forward, Naruto looks both ways before crossing the narrow street, pointedly ignoring the noisy laughter trailing behind him. “If Sasuke wakes up because you keep going on like this...”

“Between you and Kiba,” Shikamaru says, last one to reach the curb leading up to their block, “if Sasuke hasn’t woken up by now, chances are he won’t be waking up any time soon.”

“Good thing your boyfriend’s such a lightweight, huh. This way he doesn’t actually have to know the guy he doesn’t even know he’s going out with is thinking unpure thoughts about him.”

“...I am this close to beating the shit out of you, Kiba. By the end of the night, I swear I am going to beat the shit out of you, Kiba, so you better shut your mouth now before I decide to dropkick your irritating way too—”

At the sound of a quiet groan from behind him, Naruto freezes. Time stills. Even the air around him seems to know not to make any sudden movements. 

A few steps ahead of him, Kiba and Shikamaru stop just short of making it to the door of their building, both of them watching him very closely, caught up in the sudden suspense, but Naruto’s already more than aware of the weight shifting against his back.

One arm hanging at Naruto’s side, the other draped loose around Naruto’s neck, Sasuke moves his head a little. His hand clutches the front of Naruto’s jacket, cheek brushing against blond hair, and he lets out this soft sort of comfortable sigh, fingers slowly releasing their hold.

“...now that’s just precious.”

Naruto feels the burn come back with a vengeance.

“I can’t decide what’s worse. Seeing how tight Sasuke’s got you wound up around his finger, or watching you keep tripping up over this guy when he doesn’t even know it.”

“Shut. Up, Kiba.”

Shaking his head, Shikamaru smiles, too highly amused as reaches for the door handle. He hauls open the heavy door to the stairwell, setting off a long creaking noise, rusting hinges sliding against each other to create an almost cringeworthy sound. Holding the door open with his foot, he lets Naruto and Kiba go through first. “I knew Sasuke was going to be trouble.”

“Can you guys seriously just not be assholes about it?”

“Now that he’s focusing so much attention on his Himiko-bastard,” Kiba says, “do you think this means Naruto’s going to replace us?”

Slowly removing his foot, Shikamaru makes sure the door doesn’t slam behind him. “It’d be too inconvenient to replace a roommate on such short notice.”

“True, true.” Passing Naruto, Kiba takes two steps at a time, all the way up to the fourth floor. “What about me, though? Being the big brother type figure in his life, shouldn’t there be some kind of value in that?”

“Won’t find me complaining if there’s not.”

“Whenever you’re not taking over my stuff, or eating my food and getting crumbs all over the place,” Naruto mutters, carefully making his way up the stairs, “you’re always leaving some kind of mess—why the hell would I put any value in that?”

“Because this is me giving up my time for you,” Kiba says. “This is me being a good friend.”

Naruto grunts as he crosses over the last step to reach their floor, frowning when he’s met face to face with a grinning Kiba standing between him and the door. “How does barging into other people’s places uninvited make you a good friend?”

“The way you’re taking advantage of Sasuke, looking after him like the concerned boyfriend he doesn’t know you’re trying too hard to be, if all your dates are going to turn out this bad, somebody has to be the chaperone.”

A smiling Shikamaru appears beside him, joining in with Kiba nearly bubbling over with a giddy laughter that only seems to get worse when Naruto offers up a feeble glare. “...just open the door.”


	35. Le Code de Bonne Conduite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Yeah, I think that’s just your family’s messed-up sense of humour." ___

“No, Sasuke. That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this is supposed to work.”

“It’s nothing bad. You’re just exaggerating things. Again.”

“This isn’t like last time. Last time doesn’t count.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And it especially doesn’t count when it has to do with that pervert for a professorwho keeps giving methose funny looking faceswhenever I run into him. Even if Kakashi is your advisor, why do you let him get away with calling you a familiar name like that?”

“It’s not that I let him get him away with it, Naruto. I just…don’t tell him not to do it.”

“Tch. Like that’s not the same thing. How come Kakashi can give you a nickname, but if I try to give you a nickname—all right, _another_ nickname, don’t look at me like that—I should automatically start fearing for my life?”

“Because as soon as you try it, the only thing you’ll have left to call me is single.”

“What do you mean single? After all that effort I put into getting your attention, you’d actually dump me over—”

“Not to mention, Kakashi knows my uncle, so…”

“Okay, Sasuke. Seriously. You have a lot of uncles. You have a lot of family members, _period_. Which uncle are we talking about here?”

“Uncle Obito.”

“No way. The same Obito who tried to gamble away all of your Uncle Hikaku’s money at the wedding?”

“I didn’t know, either. Apparently, he and Kakashiused to be really good friends. They even grew up together. After my Aunt Rin passed away, Kakashi saysthat’s what began the rift in their relationship. When he moved to Tokyo, they eventually stopped keeping in touch with each other.”

“So Kakashi’s originally from Yamaguchi, huh. I knew there was something else off about him, even with that mask he wears all the time. No wonder why. I always thought he kept it on because he was afraid of getting sick, but being from Yamaguchi, knowingly going around with that kind of accent, that must explain why—ow, why’d you have to go and—hey, q-quit it with all the pinching and—I was just joking, Sasuke, jeeze. I really do like your nasally sounding voice, even if you are from Yamaguchi, because I think your very weird accent is really, really cu—”

“You can shut up now.”

“Wait a minute—you said Kakashi knew your Aunt Rin, too. Do you mean your Aunt Rin, as in Obito’s wife Rin?”

“...yeah.”

“…oh. I know Obito said something about being widowed, but he seemed like a really easygoingkind of guy when I met him.”

“He still is. That’s probably why you two were able to get along so well. Losing his wife, of course it’s taken a toll on him. I know he always used totalk about having kids, about wanting a little girl to grow up with Tamaki and me, and when Aunt Rin died…well, Uncle Obito hasn’t been with anyone else since then. But even after such a long time, our family’s been pretty understanding. I think he just tries to stay busy, so he won’t be forced to think about missing her so often.”

“I remember him saying he’s spent a lot of time in bars.”

“Onlythe ones he owns, he likes to say. It’s a lucrative enough business, I guess, since he’s been investing in them for years. As dramatic as my uncle tends to be, though, I think he takes a perverse sort of joy from letting people assume he’s wasted the majority of his life wandering the streets as an aimless drunk.”

“Yeah, I think that’s just your family’s messed-up sense of humour. Like when your brother kept offering to treat me to life-threatening cuisine at that one Shinoda restaurant in Shimonoseki. I didn’t get it at first. But after he told me to look out for yourpufferfish cheeks, I finally figured out why then, because Itachi said when you guys were younger, everyone used to call you Fugu-ch—”

“You really do need to learn to stop talking.”

“…will you kiss me again, if I tell you about the time Itachi told me—”

“Naruto…”

“Yeah.Just like that. Except I think you need to do it one more time. And then keep doing it. Because kissing me, this is something you should definitely not learn to stop doing.”

“I’m not going to let you get carried away, so stop smiling at me like that. And stop having conversations about me with my brother. I already told you to block his number from your phone a long time ago.”

“Hehe, I don’t think it’s anything you have to be embarrassed about, knowing me and Itachi are getting along. Seriously, though. Back to Kakashi. Maybe he should try to talk to Obito again. If they really were that close, I don’t think it’s too late for them to fix things.”

“Even ifmy aunt is involved, I doubt there isn’t some other reason behind why my uncle and Kakashiare no longer on speaking terms. There’s been more than enough gossip going around for me not to believe otherwise, whatever it was that did happen then. Although whether or not they want to do something about it now, that’s ultimately up to them.”

  
“I know. Still, it’d be nice if they were able to put everything behind them and be friends again, don’t you think?”

“Mm.”

“Anyway, here’s the thing. What’s really been throwing me off about seeing Kakashi acting so familiar with you.I get that your family’s always beenimportant to you and all, but suddenly having this connection with Kakashi,does it actually change how you see him that much?”

“I’d like to say it doesn’t. Because it’s not as if I don’t already respect him. Lazy tendencies aside, Kakashi’s an intelligent guy. And as his student, that’s something I truly can appreciate. Even Shikamaru admitted he was impressed enoughto stay awake during that course he took last term. So despitethe way Kakashiprefers to handle things, as permissive as he can be with his methods, he’s taught me a lot. Yetknowing he used to be so close to someone like my Uncle Obito, I will say it’s given me a differentperspective.”

“…okay, ignoring that little gushing moment you had there, just to be clear, we are talking about the same guy who has a woodblock print of _Tako to Ama_ hanging up in his office, right?”

“It’sa historicalreplica.”

“It’s tentacle porn.”

“…”

“Go ahead, Sasuke. I dare you to disagree with me.”

“It’s not all tentacle porn.”

“Just the stuff Kakashi likes to collect.”

“…”

“…”

“Like you really have any room to talk, Naruto.”

“Hey— _hey,_ this is not about me, all right _._ I’m not the guy who hasero—”

“You know Kakashi only has those prints because he’s pushing that ukiyo paper on my class. He’ll take them down by the end of next week. More than likely, he probably just wants to find outif anyone’s actually going to say somethingto him about it. Anyone besides you, that is.”

“Stop defending your perverteduncle.”

“He’s not my uncle. And I’m not defending him.”

“Your honorary uncle, then.Who’s trying to trick your class intomakingshunga type paintings for his own personal use.”

“Kakashi may be a little unconventional, but he’s still aprofessor, Naruto. And he’s still my advisor.”

“You know, right now, I’m starting to think you’re taking this whole being polite thing too far.Mostly since it never seems to apply to me.”

“Nothing ever applies to you.”

“Is this another one of those really traditional things abouthaving respect for your elders?”

“Part of it is. But that’s how I was raised. It’s almost an impulse at this point, especially when it comes to my family, because they’re the people I spent the most time with. Growing up as the youngest, I couldn’t help it.”

“I guess not. Even if you like to be picky about who you want to be nice to. But I mean it. You really can be too polite sometimes. And I don’t know whether I should think it’s annoying to see you defending a guy like Kakashi, or some kind of too obvious fault of mine for finding that side of you really cute.”

“So help me, Naruto, call me that again, and I’ll show you how cute I am when I take your eyes out with this paintbrush.”

“Yeah, sure.You can pokemy eyes out later. We both know how much you can’t resist them. Almost as much as you can’t resist me in glasses.I’m just thinking, though. Even if they don’t keep in touch anymore, if somehow knowing Obitostillmakes Kakashian unofficial, extendedmember of your family…”

“…what?”

“Well, since Obito already considers me your other half, which basically makes mepart of the family, too, being his unofficial nephew-in-law, does that mean I get to call you—”

“No.”


	36. All I Need

Legs folded beneath him, back propped against the headboard, Sasuke gives a quick tap to the screen of his phone, placing the call on speaker mode. The gentle cadence of his mom’s voice weaves itself through the already comfortable lull in the hotel room, and he lays the phone beside him on the bed, breath caught by a delayed sense of encompassing familiarity, wallowing in the sudden ache from being _home_.

“—has the kinds of features that aren’t easily overlooked. But because he also attends an art university as prestigious as Tama, studying photography at Namikaze Minato’s alma mater, I wouldn’t think it’d be too much of a stretch to at least wonder if it wasn’t simply coincidence.”

Slow to inhale, Sasuke concedes with a low hum, looking away from the large flat-panel TV, towards the open recessed cabinet revealing an ironing centre.

“…I guess not,” he says, gaze trailing over Naruto’s suit jacket thrown carelessly over the cabinet door, and the meticulously folded grey tie lying on top of the ironing board.

“And you know how Aunt Kayou’s weddings are.” 

Sasuke doesn’t hold back a snort, shifting slightly beneath the heavy weight comfortably sprawled across his lap. After her third marriage fell through, more or less, there’s been this sort of implicit understanding that his aunt’s weddings have become a pretext for relatively informal family gatherings; honestly, they’re just an opportunity to catch up on the latest gossip and an excuse to start spreading new rumours, which, in this case, have mostly centred around too much decidedly embellished speculation surrounding how he and Naruto first met.

“At best, everyone was just curious. That much couldn’t be helped. No one expected you to bring anyone home. You didn’t even tell us about Naruto, at least not in that capacity. Well, your brother already knew, but…”

“I wasn’t…” Sasuke licks his lips, turning his attention back to the TV he’s not really watching. His eyes settle on some music variety programme from KBS World, vaguely following the Japanese subtitles on the screen. “I didn’t mean not to say anything.”

“I wouldn’t expect that of you, Sasuke. I wouldn’t—” There’s an abrupt pause, followed by a muffled shuffling sound emerging from the background. “Does it have anything to do with Naruto being Minato’s son?”

“It’s more on my part,” Sasuke says, attempting to hedge the shrewd concern. “Naruto already knows it’s unavoidable. Whenever he’s in that situation, though, he always worries about being treated differently. Especially since he’s following his dad into the same field, it’s inevitable that people will make comparisons between them.

“Naruto realises that. For worse or for better, he accepts it. But I think it also makes him feel as if he has to try that much harder to make people notice him.So as much as he still looks up to his dad, using his mom’s name instead, Naruto stands by that.”

“Your father told me he suspected something along those lines—which isn’t so surprising, maybe, considering he’s somewhat more familiar with Uzumaki Kushina.”

“Really?”

“He came across some of her earlier articles once. A series on cultural dissemination in Japan, I think he said. It was a few years ago, before her career began to take off.”

Sasuke blinks. “That’s a little…” 

“It is a strange sort of coincidence, isn’t it? Although given how often Kushina collaborates with Minato, it’s a wonder how she became much more well-known outside of Japan. Still, Naruto seems like the kind of person who’d rather be acknowledged for his own merits.”

“Mm.” Sasuke gives a slight nod, a subconscious gesture his mom can’t see. “That’s why I asked Itachi not to say anything, either. Actually, Naruto’s the one who didn’t mind. He tried to convince me he doesn’t let it affect him like it used to, but I know it still gets to him sometimes, even if he doesn’t like to show it, so I just…”

Slowly, Sasuke breathes out, teeth dragged along the corner of his lower lip. “I just wanted to make sure everyone would see Naruto for who he is. The Naruto I see. Because he’s always been just Naruto to me, and I don’t want him to feel like he has to be someone else. Not if I can help it.”

“I understand. The resemblance is definitely there, though,” his mom muses. “He looks so much like Minato.”

Glancing down, Sasuke allows himself to smile a little, fingers idle playing with strands of coarse blond hair. “He really does. You should see them standing next to each other.”

There’s an uncharacteristic hesitation from his mom, another pause less pronounced that Sasuke nearly misses, and his smile fades when he realises the implications of his own words.

“…I didn’t realise you were already so close to Naruto’s family. I see why he was so excited to meet us.”

“I only met them in January,” Sasuke rushes out, adding just as quickly, “and only because Naruto was being so pushy about taking me to Mobara, because he kept complaining it was only fair, since he already knew he was going to meet you, and by the time we—”

He cuts himself off with a quick exhale, pursing his lips, more than a little self-conscious about getting so carried away, the same thing he accuses Naruto of doing too much.

“Actually, I…I know you’re back at the firm now, and Dad’s been busier lately, but maybe, if you have time, if you want to visit us in Narita, so we can show you around, Naruto and I, we’d really like that.”

“…I’d really like that, too. No longer having you home, it’s still taking some time to accept. Of course, with the two of you leaving so soon, if I’d known you were close to such a celebrity beforehand, I would’ve taken the initiative to ask for Naruto’s autograph during the reception.”

The fingers playing with Naruto’s hair go still. “Please, don’t ever let him hear you call him that. Please.”

“Everyone else thought his personality was charming enough.”

“He doesn’t need to know about that, either.” 

“Although it was more so his behaviour towards you that ultimately fuelled a rumour or two,” she says, wholly unapologetic, and too clearly can Sasuke hear the quiet laughter in his mom’s voice, too easily can he imagine the subtle gleam in dark eyes so closely mirrored by his own.

“Constantly held beneath the spotlight, a lonely actor seeks to escape the pressures of his rising popularity, falling headfirst for the one person who’s finally able to see through his cheerful façade.”

Somewhat stiff, Sasuke raises his head. He stares at the TV, not quite frowning at the smiling host introducing the small, all-male pop group sitting across from her. When it comes to entertaining any kind of family-related gossip, he’d almost forgotten how…intense his family could actually be.

Fortunately, typical flair for the melodramatic aside, rumours aren’t something that anyone takes too seriously. And while he’s just as culpable, maybe even more so in this instance simply for not going into detail about how his relationship with Naruto began, effectively leaving his family to their own devices, he still hadn’t expected returning to Yamaguchi with someone would attract this much attention.

“Or at least that’s what Tamaki claims Aunt Hatsue and Uncle Fuyuki have been trying to convince everyone to believe.”

Resigned, more so than suffering any true sense of exasperation, with a sigh, Sasuke lets his shoulders sag. As if they have nothing better to do, the older members of his family—the majority of his family—were usually liable for spreading the more colourful gossip, especially the rumours that had those kinds of overstated, near starry-eyed undertones.

“…I wish everyone would stop trying to turn my life into some kind of romance drama.”

“I’m assuming that particular rumour is also something you don’t want Naruto to know about,” his mom teases. “Although I do think he’d probably enjoy hearing it—is he still awake?”

“No, he’s sleeping.” Sasuke gives a light nudge to the arm casually flung around his waist, snorting at the sight of Naruto’s other arm listless dangling near the edge of the bed.

Unsurprisingly, the touch doesn’t wake Naruto, doesn’t cause him to move—doesn’t even dissuade the sporadic sort of obnoxious, hacked snoring that always seems louder paired with the unattractive sight of Naruto’s mouth hanging wide open.

Again, Sasuke reaches for the arm around him, this time with both hands, absently straightening the cuff of the white sleeve rolled up to Naruto’s elbow. He’d warned Naruto to change before going to sleep, so he wouldn’t ruin the brand new suit, but after kicking off his shoes by the entryway, Naruto only took the time to carefully fold his tie, throwing his jacket at the closest garment hook before plopping himself on the bed.

Scooting closer, with one arm draped around Sasuke, it didn’t take long for Naruto to fall asleep, body stretched across Sasuke’s lap, yet somehow still managing to monopolise the entirety of the generously sized bed.

But Sasuke can’t say he minds.

Naruto’s shirt was already wrinkled, anyway.

“Despite the impression Naruto’s seemed to make,” he says, reaching towards his phone and tapping the screen to display the time—only a little after eleven, it’s late but not quite midnight. “I really think you’re giving him too much credit. Believe me when I say there’s nothing charming about a guy like him.”

His mom agrees with a low murmur, the sort of marginally amused, if not outright appeasing sort of sound he’s received from Itachi far too many times. “Maybe Naruto doesn’t have to be a celebrity in the conventional sense,” she says, “but even after suspecting he’s Namikaze Minato’s son, I doubt that’s why everyone was so eager to meet him.”

“That’s the kind of person Naruto is, though. He just tends to attract attention. It’s natural for people to gravitate towards him.”

“Your brother seems to dote on him.”

“I don’t know why,” Sasuke murmurs, not entirely petulant, although his mom must have heard some of it in his voice, because this time she does laugh aloud, making it even harder for him to curb his own smile at the apparent ease from her soft laughter.

Before his relationship with Naruto, even before they could be considered friends, Itachi was the first person in his family Sasuke told about Naruto, the first person in his family to meet Naruto, and having that opportunity to introduce Naruto to his brother, it really did mean a lot to him.

He just hadn’t anticipated that the two of them would end up getting along so quickly, a little too well, especially when it involved embarrassing stories from his childhood, near mortifying stories Itachi seemed all too willing to share with Naruto.

He’d confronted Naruto about it for a second time, on their way back from the roof. Somewhere between complaining about receiving death threats from Itachi (perceived death threats in the form of Itachi’s insistent offers to treat him to fugu in Shimonoseki), and his boisterous, obnoxious teasing of Sasuke for a childhood nickname Itachi wasn’t even supposed to tell him, after he’d finally made a connection between the two, Naruto admitted that he and Itachi kept in touch on a pretty regular basis.

Sasuke still hasn’t decided what to make of their strange relationship.

“I guess you can say it was really easy for us to come to a sort of understanding,” Naruto had said, laying emphasis with a simple shrug, not really volunteering much else until Sasuke pushed for more.

Supposedly, it’s an older sibling thing, alongside having a few other things in common, but that’s something else entirely Sasuke refuses to put any more thought into.

Yet, like he told his mom, people genuinely do gravitate towards Naruto. Itachi isn’t the only one.

Despite his own initial reservations about returning to Yamaguchi for the first time in years, alongside bringing Naruto to his aunt’s wedding, unable to avoid the connotations of inviting someone to such a close-knit family occasion, everyone seemed to like Naruto.

Although considering Mei’s playful flirting, Sasuke would think she was just as bad as Itachi, if not worse, openly complaining about her so-called predicament trying to decide which of Naruto’s features she fell for first: his gorgeous blue eyes or his very handsome smile.

Then again, everyone’s sudden focus on his relationship with Naruto temporarily diverted attention from the more prevalent rumours surrounding when Itachi and Mei were going to get married.

“…you really were worried, weren’t you,” his mom says, curiously soft, a near whisper hushed even against the subdued sounds coming from the TV already turned low.

He blinks at the unexpected, almost soothing tone. Back pressed against the headboard, he sits up a little, careful shifting beneath Naruto’s weight. He makes another quick reach for his phone, pressing the side button twice to turn up the speaker’s volume.

His mom remains quiet, however, leaving an expectant silence he knows from experience she won’t be the one to fill.

The host of the music variety programme waves an enthusiastic farewell to the audience as credits begin appearing on the screen, smiling and laughing when members of the boy band she was interviewing join in with more cheerful goodbyes to their fans.

“…maybe,” he finally allows himself to admit, if only because it’s fruitless to deny something his mom’s too perceptive to miss. “A little. About Naruto meeting Sai, at least.”

“That’s your father’s side of the family.”

At his mom’s quick dismissal, Sasuke can’t help the snort that comes out, the ebbing tension from his shoulders allowing him to relax a little more. It’s not necessarily untrue, since it is his dad who married into the Uchiha name, but it’s more of a long-standing joke rather than his mom making a serious claim to renounce Sai and his many, many times off-putting sense of humour.

Aside from the near embarrassing fiasco that was the short-lived confrontation between a purposely antagonistic Sai and an initially dumbstruck Naruto torn between highly inflated insult and imagined injury, as inappropriate as it was for Sai to make blatant assumptions about his and Naruto’s sex life, family will always be family—Sai still included.

“I know Sai was just being Sai, but…”

“He’s always had a tendency to express his concern for you and Tamaki in very surprising ways, even when you three were much younger. Probably more insightful than he’d like people to believe, but I’m not in a position to make apologies for Sai. I will say, at least for myself, Naruto has made a definite impression.

“Although I guess I can speak a little for your father, too, when I say that neither of us was expecting that kind of bold declaration in the middle of an introduction, especially from someone we’ve never met. I honestly wasn’t sure what to think.”

She laughs a little, obviously teasing him again, but the warmth in her voice regarding Naruto brings a heavy sort of ache to Sasuke’s chest.

_To be less obviously direct_ , he remembers Naruto telling him, the advice Naruto admitted he’d taken from Itachi.

And maybe Itachi was right after all, because his parents hadn’t seemed to mind. Despite how straightforward Naruto had been, if anything, Sasuke was the only one seemingly bothered by it.

“…I didn’t realise he’d do that,” he whispers, gaze falling to the arm wrapped loosely around him, fingers tracing along Naruto’s wrist, absently picking at the overturned cuff of Naruto’s sleeve. “But I guess, really, it’s something Naruto would do. The kind of thing he always does without thinking that I can’t expect him not to do.

“For the past week, all he kept talking about was how much he wanted to impress you and Dad, how excited he was to get the chance to meet everyone, and see Itachi again. He just tends to get caught up in things too easily. That’s part of who he is. But when he introduced himself to you, saying something so careless without considering how itaffects the people around him, how it affects m—making that kind of propos—”

He hadn’t taken Naruto seriously earlier, the way Naruto kept referring to Itachi as his brother-in-law. He thought Naruto was joking, trying to distract him, trying not to let him think too much about what it meant for him to return to Yamaguchi after so long.

In the grand scheme of things, they’ve only known each other for a little under three years, having been living together for barely one. But when he saw the utter surety on Naruto’s face, saw Naruto wearing that readily earnest expression, caught in a haze listening to Naruto declaring their relationship like the two of them being together was some kind of _goddamn inevitability_ —Naruto, whose personality has always been too loud and brash and overbearing—suddenly, there was this image of Naruto with his head politely bowed, arms held rigid at his sides, the arrant lack of hesitation regarding Sasuke’s parents with the serious kind of formality nothing could’ve prepared Sasuke for.

_“As long I’m able to take care of Sasuke, for as long as I promised to stay by his side, please accept me as a member of the family, and treat me like a son from now on.”_

So he ran.

Without waiting for anyone to speak, he excused himself, even by his family’s standards overly polite, unable to face his parents’ expressions. Maybe even more so, unable to bear theopen vulnerability in blue eyes too wide.

He escaped the ballroom in relative quiet, without making a scene, managed to reach the stairwell before the blare of the door being slammed open behind him, the resounding pound of rushed footfalls, the heavy rasp of his name following him all the way to the roof of the hotel, to the open-air bath where Naruto had found him.

_“It’s still a wedding, isn’t it?”_

That was when it hit him.

The enormity of the situation, the absolute gravity of Naruto asserting himself in his life, alluding to that level of commitment with nothing less than conviction—it was staggering, coming to terms with the depth of his relationship with Naruto, the realisation that somehow all at once he’d become so wholly dependent on this same ridiculously brash and overbearing guy who still doesn’t know how to let him go.

But there’s no indemnity against someone like Naruto.

“…I still don’t understand any of it.”

His voice begins to waver, falls with a slight hitch, fingers dropped away from Naruto’s sleeve, and he clenches his teeth, tries to fight back a hapless sense of frustration, because he doesn’t trust himself to speak.

The air around him shudders as he takes in a harsh breath, as he pulls tighter the arm around him, caughtbeneath thefamiliarity of a comfortableweight, but his hand fumbles towards Naruto’s blind, holds Naruto’s palm warm pressed against his own,bringing within reach Naruto’s fingers that lay still.

“When he’s with me, it’s—being with Naruto, sometimes, the way he looks at me, it feels like being trapped between needing something I don’t want, and wanting something I wish I never knew how to need.”

Because Naruto still doesn’t know the meaning of personal space, still doesn’t know he’s not supposed to laugh when Sasuke calls him too clingy, always touching, always making such stupid faces when he teases Sasuke about the stupidest things, this guy who never stops whining, never stops watching, never stops trying too hard to make him smile—this utterly stupid, _stupid_ guy Sasuke wouldn’t hesitate to do anything for.

“I don’t know what I could ever see in someone like him, or what he sees in someone like me—if there’s anything about us that’s supposed to work. But even though we didn’t meet under the best circumstances, no matter how much I really didn’t like him at first, for some reason, all he wanted was to be my friend.”

“Sasuke…”

“It’s almost too much. Everything about Naruto, just being around him is so much, and it makes me wish I…but what he said to you and Dad, after he found me, when I told him I didn’t—when I told him I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, Naruto, he…”

He lowers his head, searches for the words that won’t easily come, words that won’t fully form, grasps forshallow impressions of sounds. A sharp inhale leaves his chest hollow, forces his eyes clenched shut, and his grip tightens, clutching at the fingers that aren’t squeezing back.

“…the only thing he did was ask me to stay.”

A steady stream of Korean becomes a low drone in the back of his mind, and he opens his eyes, swallows, breathes in careful, chest falling slow. Again, he squeezes Naruto’s hand, holding on a little tighter waiting for a response that won’t come.

There’s no response from his mom, either, but he doesn’t expect one. He doesn’t even know what he’s looking for, if there’s even an answer to any of this, so he isn’t surprised by her silence, because he already knows there’s nothing she can say.

But if Naruto were to see him like this…

Except Naruto won’t. Naruto _can’t_. He doesn’t want Naruto to worry about him, doesn’t need Naruto getting worked up for his sake over something that probably doesn’t mean anything at all, because Naruto would…

Without pause, without any will to relent, Naruto just takes and takes, keeps on taking until Sasuke can’t be sure there’s much of anything left, because there’s still that nascent fear, that once upon a time trepidation that Naruto would one day go away, it ended up turning into this— _this_ , the only side of him he’s seemingly able to keep to himself, the same irrational part of him that can’t help but wonder if Naruto will still be here if he has nothing else to give.

And he knows it’s stupid. It’s all so damn stupid, not being able to say these kinds of things to Naruto without feeling helpless, without feeling this pervasive sense ofloss, because he’s never been good at expressing the kinds of things he wishes Naruto didn’t somehow already seem to just _know_.

Pried from his throat is a meagre sound, this grating, deprecatory thing that comes out a little too bitter, too hoarse, leaves his mouth uncomfortably dry, but he only has himself to blame for always, _always_ letting Naruto affect him so much.

“…I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m acting so—I didn’t mean to—”

“No, you’re fine, Sasuke. You’re not—it’s fine. You don’t have to apologise. You have _nothing_ to apologise for.”

He hears her sigh, almost forced, a slightly shaky sort of exhale.

“Even with you inviting Naruto to the wedding, bringing him home, I guess I didn’t realise the extent of how much you…”

The light from the TV flickers over Naruto’s skin, colours dark the white of Naruto’s shirt. Chest rising, Sasuke breathes out, releasing Naruto’s hand he lays on the bed. He makes a slow reach for his phone, tapping the screen twice to turn it off speaker mode, and then placing the phone against his ear. 

“I’ve always worried about you, Sasuke. Your father and I, we both have. I know you’re old enough to understand a little better now, why we don’t really talk about it, but after waiting so long to even have Itachi, we’d expected your brother to be an only child.

“We were older when you came along, much older. Neither of us was really prepared for another pregnancy, and I’m not sure how we even it made it through that first year.

“All those nights we stayed in the hospital, all those wasted moments we weren’t even allowed to touch you, it was—” She inhales soft, even, but the sigh she releases comes out noticeably strained.

“Mom…”

“It’s amazing how much you really do take after your father. He won’t readily admit to these kinds of things, either, but after we were finally able to take you home, as determined as he was to watch over you every night— sometimes, your father would be too afraid to hold you, afraid anything he’d do would somehow manage to take you away from him, but even more so, he was afraid to leave your side, afraid for the day he’d never be able to hear you cry again, because you were small, Sasuke.

“You were still so _small_ , and I don’t think either of us truly learned to cope with how many times we almost...”

Lips pressed together, gaze back towards the TV, Sasuke tries to focus on Gag Concert, tries to follow the end of the Veteran skit, barely able to register the beginning of Wiggle Wiggle.

He knows he was an unexpected pregnancy. With his parents already in their late thirties, there were complications, serious complications that led to his premature birth. Those first twelve months, he was in and out of the hospital, with his health more than a few times touch-and-go.

Even now, it’s still hard for anyone to talk about it, and not just his parents or his brother. Most of his family, because most of them did know, they kept it from him for a while. His parents didn’t decide to say anything until much later on, only a couple years ago, but finally knowing did help put a few things into perspective: why his relatives treated him so carefully, why his parents had so easily overlooked the fact he wasn’t as receptive to anyone outside of their family, let alone other kids his own age.

As large as his family is, growing up so close to everyone, it wasn’t something he began to notice until he was older.

“…maybe that’s why we tried so hard to hold onto you a little longer,” she says, “kept you sheltered you a little more. You’ve always been different, Sasuke. But that’s never made us view you as less than your brother. It just…it just made it harder for us to accept the idea of letting you go. 

“I really don’t think we meant to treat you so differently. But maybe we were pushing you away. Instead of keeping you so close, maybe we should’ve—”

“That’s not why I...it wasn’t you or Dad. Or even Itachi. In the end, I don’t think it ever was. I just needed some time. To figure out what I was looking for.”

“Did you?”

“Not yet, but I think…” Sasuke licks his lips, giving a quick glance to the dark grey tie neatly folded on top of the ironing board. “I think I’m getting there.”

“Are you happy?”

“With Naruto?”

“That’s all we could ever want for you, Sasuke. Even if it means letting you go, whatever you decide to do, we only want you to be happy.”

“...well, I’m glad everyone liked Naruto.”

“After seeing you two together, I’m glad you gave us the opportunity to meet him.”

Sasuke ducks his head, unable to curb the small upturn of his lips. “I am, too.”

“Do you take care of him?”

“...I try to.”

“That doesn’t mean you cook for him, does it?”

Remembering his poor attempts preparing nearly inedible lunches for Itachi, Sasuke stumbles on a choked sort of mangled protest, fully blaming it on the effect of having spent too much time around Naruto. It’s still a little embarrassing, though, being reminded of that phase he went through when he was five, even coming from his mom, who was the one who actually encouraged his determination to cook for his brother.

He didn’t have an inherent knack for it, but he learned, gradually, discovering he was better off sticking to traditional Japanese food and, surprisingly enough, baking.

“I remember the first time you tried to make ganryuyaki,” his mom says, “when you dragged your bathroom stool into the kitchen in order to reach the stove. You’d already made a mess by the time your father and Itachi reached you. Somehow, they couldn’t agree on who would get to take care of you, but they both wanted to complain when you ran into my arms asking me to trythe burnt dorayaki you made.”

“I don’t burn food anymore,” Sasuke says, purposely omitting all the times Naruto complained about being forcibly subjected to taste-testing the questionable looking food inspired by the recipes Kushina often found through highly questionable means. “I’m doing better now. A lot better.”

“You are,” she says simply, with an agreeable hum. “I only ask because the food you mentioned earlier, the raspberry white chocolate mousse cake and the braised pork, those are the ones you want to make for Naruto? The ones you said he liked the most? If they are, let me get the recipes before you leave.”

“We’ll be fine. That’s too much trouble to—”

“Humour me. Please.”

“Really, though, you don’t have to—”

“It’s not about whether or not I have to, Sasuke. I want to. I’m your mother. I don’t mind doing things for you. Considering how much Aunt Kayou spent leasing nearly the entire hotel, I doubt it’ll take much to pull a few strings with the staff. I just need to find out which of the restaurants did the catering. Your father’s still with Itachi and a few others at the bar. I’ll send a message to let him know.”

Wanting to recreate the food Naruto ended up liking so much, it was just something Sasuke mentioned in passing. He wasn’t actually expecting his mom to trouble herself going through the hassle of trying to get the actual recipes.

“If you have a chance to at least try the recipes, I think Naruto would really appreciate that.”

His mom’s one of the most obstinate people he knows, probably where he and Itachi get it from, so Sasuke accepts the subtle gesture for what it is, appreciative for it all the same. “Thank you, even though you don’t have to.”

“What time does your flight leave tomorrow?”

“Not until three.”

“At least it’s an afternoon flight. I’m only sorry you and Naruto won’t be able to stay longer.”

“Yeah.” Even if he and Naruto didn’t have their responsibilities at MOS Burger and Happy Camera, Sasuke isn’t sure he’d be comfortable staying in Yamaguchi much longer. After being separated from his family for so long, intentionally creating that distance between them, it’s not that he doesn’t miss it. Because he does.

Yamaguchi’s the home it’s always been, the home it always will be, but Narita has become a different kind of home, in that tiny little apartment he shares with Naruto a different part of his life that maybe doesn’t mean he has to leave everything else behind.

“Everyone still misses you, still talks about you. Your father and I, we…”

“...I miss being in Yamaguchi, too.”

  
“As often as you like to keep in touch, though, don’t forget your brother isn’t the only one who raised you.”

His days of being Itachi’s little shadow, how close he and his brother were—still are—that’s probably one of those things that’ll never go away, but Sasuke still manages a small smile at his mom’s quiet offer of understanding.

“Even though you live in Narita now, even though we still live in Yamaguchi, we’re still your parents. We’re always going to be your parents, Sasuke. Just...don’t be afraid to call us a little more often, all right.”

“I won’t.”

“Not to mention, the fact Naruto travelled all the way here to be with you, he’s already become popular, especially now that everyone knows about him making such a bold proposal, creating that kind of mood between you during a wedding.”

“It was only the four of us then. And that was five hours ago. How does everyone else know about it after five hours?” Sasuke’s left eye begins to twitch. “And what kind of mood is there supposed to be between Naruto and me? There is no kind of mood between us.”

“Apparently, everyone’s still trying to decide how you met. With his obvious dedication to photography, it’s only natural there are rumours that the first time Naruto saw you was from behind his camera.

“A misunderstood artist with a pure heart, by chance capturing a faraway silhouette, inspired by the moment their eyes first met, the return of his curious gaze instils a natural longing between two strangers.”

His mom’s too casual attempt at evasion not completely lost on him, again, with a sigh, Sasuke lets his shoulders fall, a little more resigned, that much more grateful Naruto isn’t awake to preen about his family’s seeming new pastime of coming up with scenarios trying to portray Sasuke’s life as some kind of too obvious romance drama.

If this is what Itachi has to deal with because of all the speculation surrounding his relationship with Mei, especially when it comes to the rumours about their possible marriage, well, maybe Sasuke shouldn’t have started some of them.

“…that sounds like something Uncle Obito would say.”

“It is.” His mom pauses. “At least according to the message Kagami sent your brother.”


	37. Everything Tomorrow, Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“...since is when is my Uzumaki Naruto perfect?"_

Sasuke moves back on the bed, crossing his legs, fingers absently adjusting the wide shirt collar hanging off his shoulder. He blinks, breaking a gaze that had him staring at Naruto’s bare chest a little longer than he’d probably openly admit. “I wouldn’t necessarily call you…unattractive.”

“See. I get it.” Raising one leg, leaving the other outstretched, Naruto fights back a smile, leaning forward with one arm draped around his knee. “Really, I do. Fishing for compliments is like pulling teeth with you, but come on. Wanting to hear what you think of me,” he says, “give your incredibly hot boyfriend something to work with here.”

“Why? You already know what you look like.”

“Of course I know what I look like.” Naruto gives a light scoff. He makes a quick gesture towards himself as he sits up a little straighter, stance open, propped up by an elbow against the sheets. With a slight motion of his head, he tosses his hair back, giving Sasuke the chance to soak in his best GQ pose. “I’m sexy.”

Sasuke chokes back a snort, leaned forward with both hands reaching for the front of the dark red knit pants resting low on Naruto’s hips. He lifts the waistband, giving it a small, deliberate pull, slow to reveal the broad yellow band of grey boxer shorts. There’s another loose pull, another unhurried tug to expose the matched yellow seams outlining an oversized pouch, but then Sasuke lets go, dark eyes watching Naruto as the red waistband falls back with a soft snap. “More like cocky.”

“Yeah, right, Sasuke. Like you’re that much different. You know you’re too damn smug to put up with me being anything _but_ cocky.”

“And yet,” Sasuke says, reaching out with a finger and thumb that gently flick the small pendant hanging from around Naruto’s neck, “you’re still a dork.”

Before Sasuke can pull away, though, Naruto makes a grab for him, fingers wrapped around Sasuke’s arm tightening with a firm squeeze. Showing off a barefaced grin, he wiggles his eyebrows, lying back on the bed and taking Sasuke along with him. “I don’t think that word’s allowed to mean what you want me to think it means anymore.”

Sasuke gives this sort of vague hum, but otherwise doesn’t deny it, balancing himself on top of Naruto with a free hand planted near Naruto’s side.

“Seriously, though.” Naruto releases Sasuke’s arm, bringing up both of his own to rest his hands behind his head. “It isn’t like I’m asking you to talk dirty or do any kind of role play. It’s just, there’s this one look you get, when you start to do that one voice you do—then the way you say my name. Real soft and low, like you’re making sure I’m the only one who can hear you.

“And, yeah, it kind of really does turn me on.”

A dark eyebrow is raised. “There’s a voice I do that turns you on.”

“There’re a lot of things you do that turn me on,” Naruto says, wry, because there’s no way anyone could not notice the very obvious tent in his pants Sasuke’s all but sitting on. “I thought that was already a given.” 

Sasuke begins to open his mouth, but there’s a noticeable hesitation that prevents whatever he was going to say from coming out. He looks down, the corner of his bottom lip caught behind his teeth, like he’s seriously taking the time to consider the point Naruto’s trying to make. 

It’s not that he can’t tell how much Sasuke’s into him, way into him. Except maybe there’s a small part of him that still worries about how his inexperience with guys compares to Sasuke’s expectations, even if Sasuke hasn’t actually said anything, but wanting Sasuke to be a little more vocal every now and then, Naruto doesn’t think that’s asking for too much. 

“…maybe you’re right, Naruto.” 

The hand placed on his chest nearly makes him start, draws his attention to Sasuke advancing towards him, the legs suddenly on either side of him, Sasuke situated comfortably on top of him, and Naruto blinks.

Then does it twice again for good measure.

Fingers spread across Naruto’s chest, Sasuke continues to lean forward, crowds in on him further, watching him from lowered eyes.“Maybe I should let you know what I really think about you,” he whispers, soft and real low, hand moving so very unnecessarily _slow_ around the hardened nipple he rubs with the pad of his thumb.

“Why is there something telling me not to trust you in this situation?”

“Aren’t you the one who said I don’t tell you as much as I should?”

Naruto goes still at the shot of warm air blown soft across the column of his throat, swallows at the fingers following the contours of his upper arm, the light touches marking shivers down his skin. “T-tell me what?”

“...how being with you makes me feel.”

There’s a slight itch on back of Naruto’s hand, the same kind of tingling that makes him pull tight at the muscles locked in his right foot. It’s almost too good to be true, Sasuke willingly going along with something like this, so he keeps his guard up with a cautious anticipation, not exactly sure if it’s safe to be turned on. “Oh?”

“Because the way being with you makes me feel…” Loud enough only for Naruto to hear, Sasuke’s voice stays the real nice kind of low, mouth nearing closet the underside of Naruto’s chin. “Someone like you,” he says, breathes in with a quiet sigh, “…you’re not just my incredibly hot boyfriend.” 

“I’m not?”

“Someone like you, Naruto…”

Naruto hisses as Sasuke starts to ease himself lower, barely touching him closer, so he can’t help his reaction at the feel of Sasuke’s erection brushed against his own, raising his hips only a little to match the small movement Sasuke gives him.

“You’re so much more than that.”

“You going to tell me how much more?”

“Mm-hm.”

Naruto’s breathing picks up when Sasuke starts to shift back a bit. He lets himself get into it a little more but keeps his hands to himself, fighting back the urge to reach out and just _touch_ , because he’s not going to be the first one to give in this time. As much as he’s enjoying this new kind of attention, the last thing he needs is Sasuke teasing him again for being so easy.

“I’m going to tell you…” Sasuke lifts his head, hand resting against Naruto’s cheek, fingers gently trailing the hair along the side of Naruto’s face. “…how incredibly sexy I think you are.”

Traces of a grin curve into a leer. “Oh, yeah?”

“…yeah,” Sasuke whispers, leaves a promise unspoken over Naruto’s lips, in that one word a single temptation that has Naruto throwing whatever’s left of his caution to the wind.

Hands pulled from beneath his head, he braces himself up, most of his weight placed on one arm. He takes hold of Sasuke’s shirt, fingers slipping beneath the material to curve at Sasuke’s hip, bringing Sasuke closer.

He almost gets away with it, too, almost manages to sneak in a kiss, but somehow he misses. His mouth barely makes contact, instead brushed against strands of dark hair by the time Sasuke turns his head.

Not sure what he did this time, he pauses at the distance still short between them, at the loss of the warmth stolen from his cheek.

Yet when their eyes meet again, Sasuke makes sure to keep himself far enough out of reach, ignoring Naruto’s hand travelling up his side. He glances down for a bit, openly staring at Naruto’s chest, looking back up with this outwardly shy expression that nearly throws Naruto for a loop, an unexpectedly shy kind of expression that really shouldn’t be so appealing coming from someone like Sasuke, but Sasuke only continues to watch him, giving another one of those vague sort of hums.

“That’s why I use you for your body.”

It takes a moment for Naruto to actually pick up on what Sasuke’s saying, but even then the words don’t fully register because the voice is _gone_. It just disappeared, turned bland like the once very promising look on Sasuke’s face, replaced by a seemingly blank expression—the decidedly unimpressed kind of blank expression Naruto’s all too familiar with. 

“Because your body just so happens to be incredibly useful for sex.”

Hand dropping from Sasuke’s side, left to watch as Sasuke draws away, stuck there wide-eyed and gaping, too dazed to come up with a good comeback, or any kind of comeback, Naruto just stares.

“And not necessarily unattractive.”

Blue eyes narrow at the flimsy little tacked on addition, and Naruto clenches his jaw at the very much not subtle hit on his pride. He knows he should’ve known better, realises he walked right into that one, seriously, but to take it so far, Sasuke really, _really_ didn’t have to lead him on like that. “…if that’s the kind of reasoning you’re going to come up with, maybe it’s not so nice to hear what you think of me after all.”

The right corner of Sasuke’s mouth does this little twitch. “At least you won’t hear me complaining.”

“Complaining about what?” Naruto bristles, making a show of sitting all the way up. “What do you have to complain about?”

Unable to keep a straight face, Sasuke lowers his head to cover up his laughter, cheek pressed against Naruto’s shoulder. It’s a sorry attempt at best, but it’s not so bad when he finally looks back up, peering at Naruto with the really soft kind of indulgent smile he doesn’t try to hide so much anymore. “It wouldn’t be so tempting to make fun of you, if you stopped whining to me about things you already know.” 

“And what’s wrong with wanting to hear that you think I’m attractive to you, huh?”

“Like I’m actually going to stroke your ego just because you want me to.”

“No, but you sure as hell like to stroke my co—”

A finger tilts up Naruto’s chin, demanding his gaze. “I never knew this was a problem.” 

It’s actually not a problem. Or rather, it wouldn’t be such a problem if Sasuke would stop trying to put words in his mouth.

“Figures you only want me for one thing,” Naruto mumbles, Sasuke’s finger falling away from his chin. “You really do know how to make a guy feel good about himself, don’t you.”

Teeth lightly graze Naruto’s left earlobe, right above a small onyx hooped earring. “Not that it takes much with you.”

“Hey, now—hey, back up for a second. All this coming from the same guy who couldn’t get my shirt off fast enough, you're the one who—”

“Yes?” A hand on Naruto’s chest pushes him back down with a not quite gentle shove, and Sasuke settles himself comfortable between Naruto’s legs.

“…the way you were all over me, Sasuke, the way you’re still all over me—and this is just me being honest here—I don’t know what else you think you should’ve been expecting. Especially since you keep doing this thing where you jump me without warning.”

“I’m not supposed to like having sex with you?”

Naruto heaves a sigh, brought that much closer to defeat, body deflating with the slump of his shoulders.

Sasuke could be a real piece of work sometimes. Even on a good day, Naruto can’t seem to win. For some reason, though, a horny Sasuke seems like that much more of a manipulative bastard than usual, and the only reason Naruto decides not to say anything is because he doesn’t want Sasuke calling him out on being a hypocrite.

But as much as Sasuke likes to provoke him, likes to bring out the parts of him he’s never really been comfortable enough to show—the way Sasuke somehow manages to get him to do things without actually having to say anything—it’s in the same way Naruto knows how to turn the tables in his favour, because he knows where Sasuke likes to be touched, knows how much Sasuke really likes being touched by _him,_ so it’s not like he’s at a disadvantage.

His hand’s already back on Sasuke’s hip, fingers this time slipped over the wide band of dark blue briefs, pressing down against a narrow seam, thumb rubbing tight circles along the inside of Sasuke’s thigh.

“You know I’m not going to deny you, Sasuke. You _know_ this. Still. At least pretend to be considerate for my sake.”

“Next time, then.”

“What about next time?”

Not so unexpected, Sasuke doesn’t answer, but the familiar warmth surrounding his cheeks distracts Naruto easily enough, the hands framing his face bringing his attention to thin lips enticing a low moan as Sasuke starts to move against him.

He’s never been big on kissing before, but being kissed by Sasuke, being kissed like this, it’s the drawn-out kind of heavy kissing Sasuke tends to really get into, the very persuasive kind of kissing Naruto really doesn’t mind anymore, because Sasuke likes to kiss with his entire body, likes to use more than just his hands and his mouth, and Naruto definitely doesn’t mind being on the receiving end.

He spaces his feet out to give Sasuke enough room, letting both legs fall outstretched. His left hand goes lower, runs back up to stroke the inside of Sasuke’s thigh, pressing up with a firm nudge that gets Sasuke to open his legs a little more, pulling forward to bring Sasuke closer on his lap. His right hand gets caught up pushing away the loose material of the grey shirt riding up Sasuke’s side, fingers curved beneath Sasuke’s arm, holding the shirt higher so he can feel more of Sasuke’s skin.

Sasuke responds to the touch, allows himself to be moved, sliding up slow the length of Naruto’s erection. He pulls away with a low hum, taking with him the warmth from Naruto’s cheeks when he starts to ease back, brought still by Naruto’s hands reaching for his hips.

“…tell me you can’t feel that.” Naruto gives a tentative thrust, not too hard, not too much, just enough to fit himself closer between Sasuke’s thighs.

More than agreeable, Sasuke places his hands over Naruto’s own, moving to meet a faster, less tentative thrust. “Don’t sound so impressed with yourself.”

“What’s not to be—”

Suddenly, Sasuke shifts up hard, suddenly has him pinned down by the wrists, arms held down on either side of his head, and Naruto sucks in air through clenched teeth, by the time he blinks struck dumb for half a second of two, before his body makes the instinctive lurch up.

He tries to get from underneath Sasuke, seriously makes puts in a little more than a single half-assed effort, but Sasuke only tightens his grip over Naruto’s wrists, with a sway of his hips bears down harder on Naruto’s erection. Like he’s actually riding him, the way he gets really into it when he’s working to take Naruto deeper inside of him—the rare exception he won’t let Naruto touch him, one of Sasuke’s favourite positions hands down.

And Naruto likes it, too. Even if it was a little weird in the beginning, no matter how nervous he was about having sex with Sasuke then, since now the thought of being inside Sasuke is still enough to make him want to hide his face like he’s some inexperienced kid, embarrassingly overexcited like he’s having another first with Sasuke all over again. But it’s hard to look away from Sasuke watching him, Sasuke rolling his hips up and down like that, wearing the smallest little grin, like he can somehow tell exactly what Naruto’s thinking.

Again, Naruto tries to thrust up, tries to pick it up faster, wanting to stretch out that really good feeling, only Sasuke still won’t let up, not giving Naruto the leeway to do much of anything, because Sasuke’s a domineering bastard who gets off on this sort of thing.

“What’s the difference between this time and next time, then,” he says, “if you’re going to be stingy about it either way?” Eyes narrowed, he forces himself to lie still, resigned to bear with it a little longer. The more he tries to do, the less Sasuke’s going to move, so he stops moving, too, trying to curb his annoyance, resisting the persistently strong itch to reach out and touch Sasuke the way he wants, if only because he knows he’s being baited on purpose.

The waiting pays off, though, when Sasuke starts to pick it up on his own, leaned forward, bracing himself on Naruto’s arms.

Closing his eyes, Naruto lets his head fall back, welcoming a hoarse moan as Sasuke sits right on top of his erection, easing over it real nice and slow, back and forth keeps it going with this one long continuous motion.

“Next time, Naruto,” Sasuke whispers, voice drifting near Naruto’s ear, with his hips adding a tiny little sway that draws out of Naruto another moan. “…let’s go without the condoms.”

Eyes shot open wide, the words he can’t say get caught in the middle of a garbled splutter, die somewhere in the back of his throat, and Naruto finds himself yet again at a loss, unable to come up with anything as Sasuke shifts further back, sliding off his lap, not taking much notice of the hands no longer holding his arms to the bed.

Gentle fingers drawdown the middle of Naruto’s chest, beginning a path Sasuke traces with his lips, mouth unbearably warm against Naruto’s skin. He keeps his head down, making these soft little sounds where he leaves each light, deliberate kiss, leaves Naruto’s stomach taut in anticipation, each place where Naruto’s muscles do an involuntary twitch, going lower and lower, mouth following a trail of fine hair leading to the waistband of dark red pants, fingers already working to unravel a black drawstring lying tied uneven.

Naruto’s chest rises up sharp, breath hitched. Sitting up on his elbows, he strains his neck to look down, absently watches the drawstring coil and loosen, watches it slowly begin to come undone between well-practised fingers, faltering when Sasuke finally decides to look up.

“About not using, the two of us —not using condoms, uh…um, that is, I...”

“We’ve been doing this for a while.” Cheek brushing against Naruto’s thigh, Sasuke lifts his head higher. He sidles back a little more, holding steady Naruto’s gaze, lips parted, teeth a light pressure skimming along Naruto’s covered erection.

“…more than a couple times, y-yeah.”

“We’re both clean.”

A hand takes the place of Sasuke’s mouth, cupping the sizeable bulge in his pants, and Naruto swallows, still kind of hung up on the whole let’s ditch condoms thing, failing to keep out of his voice a slight squeak when he’s suddenly faced with a lapful of a very, very distracting Sasuke. “O-okay.”

“So next time, Naruto…”

Sasuke’s mouth hovers close, breath warm seared across Naruto’s lips, an offer of a near kiss he always refuses to let Naruto just have, but he doesn’t stop stroking Naruto’s erection, pushing up from the base with the heel of his palm, staring Naruto down with dark eyes deceptively coy, fingers only paused to give a firm squeeze.“…next time, I want to know how you really feel.”

That Sasuke can say something like that so calmly, daring him with that kind of expectant expression, like the whole thing is somehow Naruto’s decision alone to make—better yet, like he knows it’s only a matter of time before Naruto gives in.

Tch.

And Sasuke’s the one who likes to call him a pervert.

Because springing that sort of thing on him out of nowhere, that’s just all kinds of unfair. He’s put some thought into it, plenty of times, about what it’d feel like to have nothing between them for that kind of sex, but it’s not like they ever got around to talking about it.

“…I thought we agreed you weren’t allowed to say stuff like that anymore.”

There’s a small, careful tug at the corner of Sasuke’s lips.“Stuff like what?”

The muscles in his right hand twitch, and Naruto tries to ignore the extremely undeserved absence of Sasuke’s hand on his erection, because he really is making a concentrated effort not to let Sasuke distract him anymore. “You know what, Sasuke.”

“I thought we agreed you weren’t supposed to be so easy.”

“Sasuke, you…” A gruff sigh forced through clenched teeth, Naruto pulls himself upright, still careful not to let Sasuke fall, supporting his weight with a hand already at Sasuke’s side.

“Or is it you finally ran out of all that so-called stamina?”

There’s another mangled sort of choking sound from the back of Naruto’s throat. If it wasn’t for the fact he was trying to turn this into an important conversation, he’d put a little more care into reminding Sasuke just how far his so-called stamina really does go.

But ditching condoms, if it came up with anyone else, it probably wouldn’t have thrown him off so much. Only, it’s not just anyone else. It’s Sasuke. And for Sasuke to suddenly change his mind about something like this, there’s got to be a reason behind it.

“Listen, Sasuke. For once, I’m trying to be serious, okay. You can’t just say you don’t want to use condoms and expect me to agree to it. Bringing up something like that all of a sudden…”

It must’ve been the wrong thing to say, though, because Sasuke’s whole body turns stiff, expression far too open, the look in dark eyes uncharacteristically unsure.

“We don’t have to,” he rushes to say, immediately rushes to put distance between them, trying to get away from the arm that’s just as fast to wrap around him, except Naruto isn’t so quick to let him go. “If you’re not comfortable with it, forget I even—”

“Hey, that’s not—” The arm around Sasuke brings him closer, and Naruto holds onto him a little tighter. “That’s not it. You know that’s not what I said.” His hand travels up Sasuke’s side, palm moved to curve around the back of Sasuke’s neck. “Hear me out, all right.”

Because Sasuke could be pretty stupid sometimes, with this really annoying habit of trying to run away from things like this.

Which is exactly why Naruto won’t let him.

“Honestly, Sasuke, with you, condoms always come first, so when you suddenly decide you don’t want to use them—tell me. What am I supposed to think?”

They’ve been exclusive from the beginning. As far as Naruto’s concerned, they’re in this for the long haul. Sasuke’s the one who’s always been so persistent about using condoms, even for oral, more so than what Naruto would think is typically expected for another guy. That’s why he never really tried to say anything about it before. Still, he knows Sasuke has his reasons, which makes it seem even more sudden to hear Sasuke change his mind.

  
“It’s not like I don’t want to try it with you. Not using condoms, I’ve thought about it before, yeah—a lot—but I wasn’t expecting you to be the one to bring it up first. Making that sort of decision, isn’t it kind of serious?”

“…I don’t know, Naruto. Is it?”

Naruto lets his arm fall, not really surprised by the non-answer. He gives it a couple seconds, though, releasing an audible exhale at the familiar weight of Sasuke leaning against him.

“It just seems like this should be a big deal, I guess.” He pauses, waiting the few seconds more it takes to feel Sasuke completely relaxed at his side. “Really, I didn’t mean for what I said to come out the way it did, so I need you to know that. But knowing how you feel about using condoms, I just assumed…I mean, especially since we just started having that kind of sex, something like this, shouldn’t it be a big deal?”

“Not unless you want it to be.”

“…you know,” Naruto says, licking his lips, “it’s like, growing up, when you first start learning about sex, all you ever hear is people telling you to use condoms. That’s what everybody says. To be safe. So that expectation automatically just sort of becomes this habit. You get used to using them. But I, actually, uh, I happened not to once.”

A low sort of chuckle comes out, this weird sounding kind of stilted laugh that seems to makehisalready obvious hesitation feel that much more apparent.

“Or more than once, I guess I should say. With this girl I had a crush on in high school. She was my first, and I was hers, too, so we didn’t really think...since we hadn’t been with other people before, we didn’t put too much thought into it.”

Forcing out a sigh, Naruto looks away. He turns his body, bringing his legs over the edge of the bed and letting his feet hit the floor.

“Eh, it’s not something I can say I’m proud of. Because I know how careless we were, especially since she wasn’t on any kind of birth control, either. Looking back, it was stupid. I know it was stupid. But it just turned into this regular thing, you know. At least until after that one pregnancy scare.”

Legs folded, Sasuke shifts closer, letting his head rest against Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto takes in a slow breath, taking comfort in Sasuke’s silence, not for the first time appreciating how much easier it is to speak knowing how willing Sasuke is to just listen.

“Somehow, our parents found out. Mine pretty much chewed me out for being so irresponsible and setting a bad example for Sakura and Ino. It took a little while for them to get over being disappointed, too. Especially Mom. The two of us, you know how alike we are, so we’ve always been close, but back then, it really was…” 

Naruto clears his throat. His eyes wander to the collar of Sasuke’s t-shirt, where they stay there a little while longer, staring unfocused.“Anyway, what about you? Have you done that before?” He blinks, looking to Sasuke’s face for a response. “Not used a condom, I mean. I already know how you feel about them, but...”

There’s another pause that follows, this one not as brief, but then Sasuke raises his head from Naruto’s shoulder, keeping his gaze down before deciding to look up. “Even when it came to having sex with guys, I still used condoms. Regardless of everything else I was going through before, that was one of those things I…

“I can’t exactly say I didn’t get around back then, so maybe that was why. Although there were a few guys who—”

There’s a rigid twist to the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, a strange sort of uneven smile that makes Naruto feel just as uneasy. “I already told you about the stupid phase I went through in high school.”

“Right. And what happened with that asshole Murakami.”

Lips drawn tight, Naruto all but sneers. He’s trying really hard not to push the issue, really, because there are some things Sasuke’s never told anyone else about, things he’s only told him, but the thought of anyone treating Sasuke like that, trying to take advantage of him, even if Naruto can’t really do anything about it now, couldn’t have done anything then, he still wishes he could—

“Naruto.”

The lump caught in his throat, it takes a little too long for Naruto to force it down, even with the warning prod from Sasuke’s finger against his shoulder. Tightening his fist, he tries to will away the tension in his body, slowly uncurling fingers he doesn’t remember having moved, loosening his grip all but crushing the pillow. “…sorry, I, uh…”

“It happened a long time ago. You shouldn’t let something like that keep affecting you so much.”

“Yeah, well…” Naruto gives a measly shrug. He won’t bother trying to disagree. Not out loud, anyway. Anything that has to do with Sasuke, of course he’s going to be affected by it. Sasuke can’t seriously expect him not to be, but something that happened that long ago, something Sasuke doesn’t like to see him getting so worked up over, unless Sasuke wants to talk about it, for now, there’s really not much he can do.

“It is what it is.” Sasuke’s voice trails off a little, trying to shrug away Naruto’s too obvious show of concern. He pokes Naruto again on the shoulder, fingers absently making their way down Naruto’s bare arm.

It’s this thing Sasuke does sometimes, when he let his fingers wander along Naruto’s arm. It started off an accidental gesture the first time he did it, became a subconscious habit Naruto likes to tease him for, but the familiar touch isn’t as distracting this time around.

“I can’t do anything about the mistakes I made then,” Sasuke says, “but I did learn from them. As much as I like sex—”

Despite his pent-up frustration, Naruto can’t hold back a snort. One of the last things Sasuke gets shy about is sex. Considering how finicky Sasuke normally could be ( _naturally selective_ , Sasuke prefers to call it), he didn’t really know what to expect with that aspect of their relationship in the beginning. But it’s kind of funny how agreeable Sasuke actually gets when it comes to something even as simple as kissing.

“Yes, Naruto. I like sex because I like to get off.” Sasuke rolls his eyes with an exasperated sigh, like the act of doing so somehow physically pains him. “There’s nothing special about that.”

“Is that all I’m good for then, getting you off?”

“Pretty much.” Sasuke lets this tiny little smile slip through, raising a knee to bring close to his chest. “But sex without a condom,” he says, eyes slightly narrowed, the corner of his mouth turned down. “I guess it’s something I knew I’d want to try eventually. For the most part, though, sex has always been more of a casual thing for me. There was nothing really personal about it.

“Besides, the expectations between most of the guys I met tended to be different, anyway. And it isn’t as if I wanted to get anything else out of it.”

“Sasuke…”

“Like I said, I can’t change what happened in the past. I’m not proud of some of the choices I made, either. But it didn’t turn me off sex. It just taught me to be more careful about choosing the people I slept with.”

Lips pressed together, Sasuke wraps an arm loose across his leg, leaning over with his cheek laid on top of his knee. “Except with you, Naruto, being able to share this kind of closeness with you, somehow, it always manages to feel a little more…”

Not quite sure what to say, Naruto stills a bit at the sudden flush he can feel pooling at his cheeks, grateful Sasuke’s not paying enough attention to notice. He’s kind of preening a little, too. Even though he was joking about it earlier, every once in a while he really does wonder what Sasuke finds sexually attractive about him.

Although as surprised as he is about the indirect confession, about what Sasuke didn’t outright say, suddenly the idea of Sasuke not wanting to use condoms means a whole lot more than what he first thought.

But the thing about Sasuke is...well, Sasuke just has this incredibly backwards way of saying things, especially sappy things—definitely the ridiculously corny kinds of sappy things that might just give Naruto a run for his money.

Since he’s really not a straightforward person, Sasuke won’t admit to things like that on purpose, and it’s usually to the point where Naruto doesn't think Sasuke even realises how it comes across most of time.

At least, not until he decides to point it out.

Because the hell if he's going to give up one of the few things he actually has over Sasuke.

After a few more seconds, the lack of response on his part is clearly enough to get back Sasuke's attention, more than enough to turn the faraway look on Sasuke's face into something a lot more wary, but Naruto takes his time in the slow reveal of a grin, bolstered by the wayward sort of confidence that immediately sets dark eyes into a sharp stare.

“…this is way more than about me being good at getting you off, huh.”

“Naruto...”

“Which means this whole thing about you not wanting to use condo—”

“Whatever it is you wrongly think I just said—don’t say it.” There’s a quiet sort of dread in Sasuke’s voice, as he turns to fully face Naruto a sudden realisation that makes his eyes go just a little bit wide. “Stop purposely misconstruing everything you hear.”

Naruto chuckles, his mouth brushing against Sasuke cheek, trailing lower to leave a kiss near Sasuke’s chin. “All right. I won’t say anything about how you think sex with me is just that special.”

“When did I—” Leaning out of Naruto’s reach, Sasuke lowers himself back on the bed, releasing a loud exhale as his head lands on top of an oversized pillow.“I never—”

“Even if I am the first and only person you’ve ever had this kind of relationship with.”

“You keep taking what I said out of context.” With an irritated groan, Sasuke lays an arm over his forehead. “It doesn’t mean anything more than what it is.”

Naruto lies down on his side, one knee bent, elbow on the bed keeping him upright. “Only because your permanent roommate just so happens to also be your incredibly hot and sexy boyfriend. Whose body just so happens to also be incredibly useful for se—”

“Stop talking, Naruto.” Sasuke lets out another groan, his glare quickly yielding to a resigned annoyance that only serves to widen Naruto’s grin. “I’m not in the mood to put up with you. Either stop talking or go away.”

“Go away for what? You’re the one who said it first.”Gently, Naruto pulls away the arm resting over Sasuke’s forehead. 

“I changed my mind. I don’t want your body anymore.”

“You can’t keep deciding to break up with me every time you get embarrassed, you know.” But Naruto eases off on the grin, anyway, features softened with a simpler kind of smile as he pushes away from Sasuke’s face strands of dark hair. “Besides, in the end, it’s just another way for us to be closer. And that’s all it really has to be, right.”

Sasuke peers up to watch him. He stay stight-lipped, expression carefully blank.

“Right?”

Glancing away from Naruto, Sasuke lets his head fall to the side, cheek smushed against the pillow. “I didn’t say that.”

Naruto agrees with a low hum. “Yeah, but you don’t say a lot of things. And that’s okay. You don’t always have to.”

He makes a reach for Sasuke’s hand, fingers spread across Sasuke’s palm, thumb tracing faint lines along the inside of Sasuke’s wrist. 

“Except it’d be really nice if you decided to speak up every once in a while. You know, actually take your incredibly hot and sexy boyfriend into consideration. You can’t expect him to be perfect all the time.”

It’s enough to get Sasuke to turn back around, to bring out of him one of those really warm, soft little smiles as Naruto brings their palms together, fingers seeking their place where they fit linked between Sasuke’s own.

“…since when is my Uzumaki Naruto perfect?”

“The day he found out he was perfect for you.”

Failing to hold in a breath far from steady, Naruto strains his throat with a forced swallow, grip on Sasuke’s hand held firm with a tight squeeze. His lower lip begins to tremble, and he feels himself cracking beneath the weight of the false calm, unable to keep up with the considerable effort it takes to hold back the laughter bubbling up in his chest at the absolutely mortified look on Sasuke’s face.

As soon as Naruto gives in, though, Sasuke snatches his hand right back. There’s an aggressive tic above his left eye, the telltale twitch of irritation, and he heaves at Naruto with both hands, pushing away with knuckles smashed against Naruto’s left cheek, his other hand thankfully not pressed up against Naruto’s neck, but apparently trying to make sure something ruptures in Naruto’s shoulder.

“How can you always just—”

“Sorry, s-sorry. I think we actually were having a moment that time.”

Being able to one-up Sasuke so easily when it comes to stuff like this, Naruto knows he shouldn’t laugh at him, but really, he can’t help it. Stuff like this is the same so-called shit Sasuke always claims he isn’t going to let him pull, the same sort of incredibly sappy declaration Sasuke still doesn’t know how to react to, probably made worse by the fact he’s realised Naruto means every word of it.

In very less obvious ways, Sasuke can be painfully shy, sometimes literally—a special brand of Sasuke shy that often involves taking out his embarrassment on Naruto.

(For a guy who can be so ridiculously polite at times, Sasuke has some decidedly violent tendencies.)

Yet Naruto keeps laughing, anyway, because Sasuke’s features really are expressive, when his cheeks get slightly puffy, the way his face always scrunches up to make all these really cute little expressions whenever he gets really, really flustered, even if this time around it actually makes him look more or less constipated.

“I don’t look consti—shut up, Naruto, or I’m going to make you when I wipe that stupid looking smile off your face.”

“Seeing you get so embarrassed over this kind of thing, I can’t help it if it’s still that funny.”

“There’s nothing funny about all the _stupid_ that keeps coming out of your mouth. I already told you about trying to pull this shit with me. Having to hear that sort of thing from a dork like you, being stuck with the annoying kind of corny guy who always has to act like such a—”

Sasuke freeze sat the hands on his hips. Eyes already taken by surprise grow larger as he’s pulled along the bed and brought closer towards Naruto.

With a hand on Sasuke’s knee, Naruto pushes aside Sasuke’s leg. “I already told you about calling me a dork,” he murmurs, but his voice comes out a low rumble from his throat, edged with a playful grin as he shifts further back. The fingers gripping the material of Sasuke’s fallen shirt are quick to push it up again, and he lowers his mouth close to exposed skin, lips hovering just above Sasuke’s navel.

“Naruto, don’t you—” 

“I’m not doing anything.”

And Naruto’s not. It isn’t exactly tickling. More like purposely trying to make Sasuke jumpy. Because Sasuke really does need to stop calling him a dork so much, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get back at Sasuke for that.

That is, until he decides to blow air on Sasuke’s stomach.

At first, Sasuke starts to do this little twitch, his lips pressed together tight as he goes tense, trying to keep inside the inevitable sounds Naruto works a little harder to make come out. It doesn’t last long, though, before he seriously starts to flail, eyes held shut, unable to hold back a breathless laughter, with his body doing all these really weird, funny-looking contorted motions, lashing out with a foot Naruto’s barely able to keep at bay.

Hand still on Sasuke’s leg, Naruto braves the elbow nearly threatening to take his eye out, maintaining his balance while simultaneously managing to dodge Sasuke’s other knee that almost gets him in the ear, surviving a bare brush with the possibility of being rendered deaf.

One heel digging into the sheets, Sasuke shoves at the top of Naruto’s head, fingers clutching at blond hair, trying to push away Naruto’s mouth planted firm against his skin.

Right above the waistband of dark blue briefs, Naruto nips at the skin gently caught between his teeth, one hand moving to settle at the curve of Sasuke’s hip. He raises himself up over Sasuke, shifting forward, not willing to give him a chance to catch his breath, fingers unyielding roaming up and down Sasuke’s side.

He just doesn’t anticipate the leg thrown around his waist, the unexpected movement from Sasuke pushing up against him.

Using the created momentum to flip them over, Sasuke takes advantage of Naruto’s surprise, hands not too kindly gripping Naruto’s shoulders and pinning him against the bed.

Even with how much Sasuke’s definitely holding back, Naruto still winces beneath the sudden weight on top of him, trapped between legs trying to squeeze the life out of him pretty darn hard—not really the kind of embrace he usually goes for.

“Stop it, Naruto,” Sasuke hisses. "You know exactly what you're doing.”

“M-maybe.” Naruto bites back a moan, breathing in sharp at the unintentional friction from Sasuke manoeuvring over his lap to keep him still, but he doesn’t try to wriggle free. Instead, he gives himself a different kind of leverage, the hand placed near Sasuke’s hip circling around Sasuke’s back to move lower, because Sasuke’s ticklish as much as he can be sensitive, being that fine of a line between the two, and Naruto really isn’t above using it against him.“So I guess this has to count, too.”

The fingers working that spot along the back of his thigh cause Sasuke to jolt, turn his grip loose against Naruto’s shoulders, bends his body forward with a muted cry. Teeth pressed against the corner of his bottom lip, he tries to hold in another shudder, breathing out a little harder at the fingers cupped beneath the back of his thigh, kneading and squeezing.

Naruto’s hand travels slow up the dark blue briefs bunched against his palm, pulling lightly at the elastic band. He follows up the curve of Sasuke’s lower back, gradually trails again down, extending a finger. He doesn’t put a lot of pressure behind it, keeping his hand relatively still, slides his finger easy along the crease of thin material, draws it back up, pressing in just a little further, fitted against the already narrowed space between.

Little by little, Sasuke starts to move, barely just rocking against Naruto’s finger. He holds onto Naruto a little tighter, not exactly giving in but not doing that much to fight it, either, this time not able to hold in a shudder when Naruto’s hand lowers to settle on the back of his thigh.

“Naruto, you assh—”

In the second or two it takes to find that spot again, Naruto’s already sitting up, hand reached to cradle the back of Sasuke’s head, mouth rushed to cover a sharp inhale as he catches Sasuke forward against him, lowering them both onto the bed, his other hand slips back between Sasuke’s legs, palm pressed hard over Sasuke’s erection.

Knees upright bent, arms laid out away from his sides, Sasuke makes a small noise, this real hushed kind of exhale, eyes closed, head turned. Slowly, ever so slowly, he raises his hips, lifts them ever so slightly the same way he lowers them back down, starts to sway into it, in small little circle sworking himself against Naruto’s hand.

“…and you said I wasn’t supposed to be so easy.” The words come out thick, edged rough around air escaped through the slight part of his lips, but Naruto keeps his eyes focused, keeps his hand steady, can’t keep his gaze away from the sight of Sasuke rubbing up against his palm. “You’re the one who’s already hard aga—”

As unexpected as it should be expected, he’s unprepared for the hands framing his face, thrown off by the lips once more over his, Sasuke definitely back in the mood, trying to consume him with the heady kind of drawn-out kisses that demanded nothing less than Naruto’s full attention.

“Shit, Sasuke, hold on. Give me a chance to—w-wait a second, okay. Don’t just go ahead and—”

Then Sasuke’s all over him again, between the words Naruto doesn’t get a chance to finish still kissing him, trying to distract him and doing a real good job succeeding.

Arm reaching between them, his hand dips beneath the waist of dark red pants, through the material of Naruto’s boxers shorts fingers flexed around Naruto’s erection, bearing down and pushing back up, passing over the tip, thumb stroking the small area where the material’s already slightly wet.

Naruto stumbles forward, nearly topples over, keeps himself from falling with both hands on the bed. Face scrunched, he grits his teeth, forcing out air, but unable to stop the embarrassingly loud moan that comes out. He lifts his head with a low groan, lowers his gaze back down as he starts to move, trying to start off slow, the jerk of his hips becoming a short series of stiff thrusts.

Between heavy breaths, he grapples for Sasuke’s hand, seizing Sasuke’s wrist, raising Sasuke’s arm and pinning it above Sasuke’s head. His other hand grabs Sasuke’s chin, tips back Sasuke’s head, holds it there keeping Sasuke still.

Thumb brushing across Sasuke’s cheek, he starts to lean down, but gives himself time to pause, licks his lips then decides to pull back. His eyes fall to Sasuke’s mouth, stay fixed on the small space between Sasuke’s lips, a stare that drifts up slow to meet dark eyes watching him intent.

There’s a tingle that travels up the length of his spine, the beginnings of a prickling warmth that reaches the back of his neck from where his necklace hangs loose. The thin leather chains lies suspended between them. Back and forth a small blue pendant only just continues to sway, hovers over Sasuke’s chest, slower and slow, until it eventually stops.

His fingers clamp around Sasuke’s wrist, hand holding Sasuke’s chin turning away Sasuke’s head, shoulders drawn up as he surges forward, mouth crashing against the left side of Sasuke’s lower neck.

Sasuke tries to push up against him, back arched high, free hand clutching at strands of Naruto’s hair slipped between his fingers. He gives up this soft little noise, gives Naruto a muted gasp, leg falling open to the side, and Naruto sucks a little harder, marking careful an impression with his teeth, at the fingers pressed into his scalp leveraging his weight with a knee sinking further into the bed, shoving down against Sasuke squirming beneath him.

Then, as soon as it came, the impulse is gone. Left is an abrupt quiet. During the briefest of moments, everything seems to come up blank, creates a stillness around him, a stillness that surrounds him, makes him too highly aware of his lips lingering wet on Sasuke’s skin.

Out comes this shaky murmur, an uncertain whisper, his voice a dry rasp that almost sounds like Sasuke’s name. 

He hesitates, feels himself breathe, startled by a dulled creak, the bed giving way to cautious movements his hands come away unsteady, letting go of Sasuke’s chin, letting go of Sasuke’s wrist, somewhere in the back of his mind vaguely noting the loss of Sasuke’s fingers in his hair.

His breathing echoes hollow in the room, the sounds his own distorted through jagged pockets of air. He keeps his head held down, keeping his eyes open, unable to look past the mark already beginning to darken on Sasuke’s skin.

“…it’s fine, Naruto.” 

Slowly, he begins to lift his head, not sure what he’s expecting to find in Sasuke’s expression, but there’s a quiet understanding in Sasuke’s eyes, a wordless reassurance that makes him feel a little lost thinking of the way Sasuke said his name, lost from the way Sasuke just _looks_ at him, acknowledges him, willingly accepts every part of him, and Naruto’s arms start to tremble, try not to buckle beneath his body that starts to feel too heavy, and maybe deep down it never really was about whether Sasuke found him attractive—because right now, Naruto can only come up with all the reasons he needs for Sasuke not to push him away.

It’s a fear that comes up every now and then, a fear he tries hard not to think about, because it’s hard to handle sometimes, for no reason he can explain the gravity of how much Sasuke means to him, not being able to escape how much he _needs_ Sasuke to need him, too, a raw sort of ache that always manages to hurt, and even now he can’t admit to himself how much it scares him this very near fear of ever having to let Sasuke go.

Because the ache’s still there when Sasuke starts to raise his hand, reaches for him like Naruto never wants him to stop doing, laying an arm over Naruto’s shoulders. His fingers this time are light against Naruto’s scalp, a gentle sensation as they pass through Naruto’s hair, but it’s the look in those eyes that makes Naruto’s throat start to go numb—makes him feel like he just sucked in too much air, all at once too fast, coiled tight from the pit of his stomach this weird twinge that sinks even further into his chest, everything he wants to say wedged in his throat caught in this one moment between them, and even if he could somehow say all the things he wanted to say now, somehow, he already knows none of it will ever be enough.

“Sasuke, I don’t…”

“…you’re fine.”

For all the things Sasuke doesn’t always tell him, sometimes, it matters just as much all the things he will say, so Naruto lets the words wash over him, chokes back that weird twinge still in his chest, shuts his eyes tight, drops to one arm, dropping his head and hiding his face above Sasuke’s shoulder.

He starts to push up, slowly raises his hips back, then goes low, on the barest little brush gradually begins to build a pace, each time he touches Sasuke, starts to draw out of him soft little breaths, each time getting Sasuke to move a little faster with him.

An elbow hooks from under the crook of Sasuke’s arm as he leans down to listen closer, tries to find himself in the quiet stutters of Sasuke’s sharp inhales, because Sasuke usually won’t make a lot of noise during sex—never does, never did, always makes Naruto feel like he makes more noise than he probably should—but even if it sometimes seems like Sasuke’s holding back, he still doesn’t stop holding on to him, and Naruto shudders, tries to bring himself closer held in Sasuke’s arms that don’t let him go.

He breaks the pace with a sudden jerk, Sasuke arching into him, Sasuke’s other leg fallen open to the side, with another roll of his hips pushing off on the ball of his foot, teeth clenched, pressing down harder with quicker, more shallow thrusts.

Beneath him there’s a shaky gasp. A little louder comes a hitched cry, a little softer he swears, Naruto _swears_ he hears Sasuke say his name, at the fingers wrapped around his arm swears he hears it again, chases each whisper as Sasuke tries to bring him closer, Sasuke holding on to him a little tighter, again and again, until he feels Sasuke go still, the fingers around his arm squeezing twice.

Pulling back from another thrust, he stops. Resting most of his weight on his forearms, he rides it out a little longer. He breathes out, takes deep breaths in, releasing the tension in his body, honestly kind of surprised at his own reaction, not having expected to get so carried away.

Licking his lips, he raises his head, before giving Sasuke the chance to say anything, bridges the already short distance between them to kiss him, twice and once more, palm resting against Sasuke’s cheek, holding Sasuke towards him. Feeling a lot less rushed this time, a lot more calm, slowly, he begins to pull away.

A little sheepish, not quite meeting Sasuke’s eyes, he spares a quick glance to the arched floor lamp standing near a reasonably sized bookshelf, hand rubbing the back of his neck. “…what?"

Sporting his version of the trademark Uzumaki style bedhead, dark hair fanned out across off white sheets, Sasuke just stares at him, watching a little breathless, sort of dazed, the way he usually gets whenever sex is involved, eyes half-closed in a sated kind of sleepy glare that has even less of an effect than it normally wouldn’t. “…try touching me there on my leg like that again, and I guarantee you will be kicked off this bed.”

“Look here, Mr Too Sensitive. If you always get to cheat, I don’t see why I can’t, too. Before you get all high and mighty, don’t forget you came at me first.”

Making a face, Sasuke gives a short huff, three fingers rubbing near the lower left side of his neck. “No thanks to you, it’s probably going to end up looking like I got mauled or something.” 

“Like you’ve never given me hickeys before.” Naruto shifts a bit, trying not to fidget too much in his pants. There’s a slight wetness on the front, mostly his boxers shorts, but it’s not so uncomfortable that he can’t bear with it for now. Moving off Sasuke, he lies on his side, stretched out comfortably on the bed. 

“Only in places where I know no one else will see them.” Sasuke cuffs Naruto’s leg with the bottom of his fist, but the half-hearted hit doesn’t do more than make Naruto laugh. “You better be glad it’s cold enough outside to wear that ridiculous looking yellow scarf.”

“Heh. Considering I bought it for you to wear, I think it’d be a little nice if you actually did.” Naruto wiggles his eyebrows, shameless, with a broad grin. “Still think I’m a dork?”

“A dork who still gets distracted too easily.”

“Doesn’t help that you can be very,” Naruto murmurs, lets his voice grow low, gently pulling on the ruffled grey shirt somehow hitched up to Sasuke’s chest, straightening it out to cover the rest of Sasuke’s torso.“…very distracting.”

“I know.”

With a snort, Naruto lets go of the shirt, shoulders starting to shake, but he’s more than happy to give into the relieved sort of laughter that spills over.

Even though Sasuke only said two words, the way he somehow managed to say them, it’s still such a Sasuke thing to say, haughty as hell and so damn comfortably _smug_. Never mind how often Sasuke likes to accuse him of being cocky. Anything’s better compared to that open uncertainty from Sasuke earlier.

The upsetting kind of doubt he’s not used to seeing from Sasuke, doesn’t want to see on Sasuke’s face at all, especially when it comes to their relationship now, and maybe there’s a part of him still coming to terms with the realisation of just how self-conscious Sasuke really is when it comes to that side of things.

For now, though, he lets himself laugh it off, mellowed by a careful sigh that helps dull the weird sort of comfortable ache lingering in his chest, relaxing into a smile he slowly places against the corner of Sasuke’s mouth.“…hi.”

Sasuke gives this lazy sort of content hum in return, offering back a soft smile of his own. He drapes a leg over Naruto’s hip, his heel a firm nudge against Naruto’s lower back, urging Naruto to take up what little’s left of the space between them.

Coming from Sasuke, it’s actually more of a silent demand, really, the kind Naruto won’t readily refuse, anyway, so it’s okay that he ends up agreeing to it. He shifts himself above Sasuke, but just as soon finds himself lured down again, mouth brought over Sasuke’s lips once more for another kiss.

He grins at fingers curled around his hair, running his hand along Sasuke’s side, taking his time to break away when Sasuke’s leg falls from around his waist.“So, what you were saying before, I guess this means…”

“Hm?”

“That is, well, uh, if we are planning to ditch the condoms next time, do you, um…do you want to try something else, too?”

“Try what?” 

It’s something he’s thought about every now **a** nd then, ever since they first tried anal, but as he tells Sasuke exactly what it is he’s been thinking about, despite himself, Naruto can feel his entire face heating up, ducking his head at the hoarse whisper of his own voice, because, okay, yeah, maybe admitting to this does sort of validate all those throwaway comments from other people who like to claim he’s a pervert.

“…I can’t believe you just said that.”

Naruto lifts his head, blue eyes raised to meet Sasuke’s somewhat wide-eyed expression. Honestly, he doesn’t think it’s that bad, but he still makes a show of clearing his throat, pointedly avoiding Sasuke’s gaze. “I don’t have any control over these kinds of things.”

“…pervert.” Sasuke gives blond strands a light pull, letting out a snort that blends into soft laughter, smiling into words that don’t sound anything less than fond. “And then you even have the nerve to blush. How is it that you can get so embarrassed about your own sexually depraved fantasies?”

“You’re making the whole thing sound worse than it actually is,” Naruto mutters.

“No, it actually is worse than you want to think it sounds. Especially coming from the dorky kind of emotional guy who cries over dramas.”

“One time, Sasuke—that was _o_ _ne time_. Getting me addicted to that kind of stuff, you’re the one who forced me to watch all those Korean dramas with you. Stop making it seem like I ever had a choice.”

“You just didn’t hear me say I’d mind trying it with you.” 

“…you really wouldn’t mind…oh— _oh_.” Squinting at Sasuke, Naruto blinks in surprise. “Really?”

“Mm.” Sasuke slides his foot along dark red pants, paused near the hem of a black ribbed cuff, letting his heel drift further down to brush against Naruto’s ankle.“Still doesn’t mean you’re not a pervert, though.

“I am not.” There’s a considerable pause, a somewhat expectant silence taken up by the hand playing with the hair near his nape, and Naruto does his best to ignore the knowingly amused look on Sasuke’s face. “And anyway, even if I was a pervert—which I already told you I’m not—you just said you didn’t mind.”

“I don’t.” Sasuke bites at the corner of his lip, giving this deceptively coy sort of understated smile. His fingers tug at the lining of Naruto’s pocket, little by little easing Naruto’s pants along, exposing the wide yellow band underneath.

“But right now, Naruto,” he breathes, whispers Naruto’s favourite kind of low that inevitably entices him closer, makes him again shudder, drawn in further by impossibly dark eyes.

“…I’d rather do this with you.”


	38. A Little of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"That's how I knew you must've been really out of it, because you never use that kind of honorific speech with me."_

“Well, not really, I guess. But then I wouldn’t be in this situation. Because I can handle alcohol a lot better than you, so…”

“…why are you putting me through this?”

“You’re saying I should’ve just left you there?”

“…yes.”

“You seriously expected me to leave you by yourself in a bar. Passed out on a table alone. In the middle of the night.”

“Apparently, you’re still hard of hearing.”

Naruto squints, sitting on the floor beside Sasuke lying face down on a borrowed futon, nearly buried by the plush navy comforter striped with lines thin and white. Turned towards Naruto, cheek resting over his arms folded on top of a pillow, Sasuke glares at him, or at least tries to, coming up with a glare that only manages to prove exactly why he never claimed to be a morning person.

“Sasuke, I…you know I’d never leave you like that, right? I don’t mind tak—being there if you need me. You’re my friend. My best friend. I can’t _not_ look out for you.

“Besides,” Naruto adds, combating the sour glare with an even more determined grin of his own. “I know you’d do the same for me.”

A second goes by, followed by two more, leading into three and stretching into another two, but even then, still, there’s only silence.

“Don’t even try to deny it, Sasuke.”

As Naruto’s grin falters, the cranky glare fades along with it when Sasuke blinks, features blank, resolved to simply stare at Naruto. The silence doesn’t go away, though, seemingly becomes more awkward with the lack of movement, the two of them locked in an apparent standoff bordering on sheer stubbornness rather than some kind of uncomfortable.

“No matter how much you like to make fun of me, I know you’re not that mean,” Naruto scowls, nothing less than utter conviction in his words, thoroughly convinced despite the distinct lack of response on Sasuke’s part. “I know you wouldn’t do that to me.”

“How would you know?”

Making a fist, Naruto lets out a frustrated groan, aiming for Sasuke’s face with knuckles that apply a careful pressure steady kneading Sasuke’s cheek. “Stop giving me so much pushback for once, and be grateful already so I can accept your gratitude.”

Sasuke doesn’t draw away from Naruto’s hand against his cheek, eyes narrowed instead, features reading something close to confusion and not quite annoyance, clearly torn between the two. “You’re being too loud.”

Naruto gives a final little nudge, another careful prod against Sasuke’s cheek, before dropping his hand. He sits back with an overstated sigh, letting his arm fall over his lap. “Would it really hurt you to say thank you?”

“Showing gratitude towards someone like you,” Sasuke says, shifting his arms on top of the pillow, legs stretched out underneath the comforter. “Yes.”

“You should only be so lucky to know someone like me.”

“It’s bad enough being seen like this by someone like you.”

Naruto starts, nearly keels over, catching himself mid-flail. “How am I the bad guy in this situation?”

“Because you’re _you_.”

There’s a tic above Naruto’s right eye. “…you say it like I’m just some untrustworthy looking guy who brought you to some shady looking place against your will.”

“No, you’re just the senseless guy who makes me question the decisions I make whenever I’m around you.”

“What’s with the sudden accusatory look? You’re the one who can’t handle alcohol. I’m the one who carried you all the way back here. At least show a little apprec—”

“You carri—” There’s a weird sounding moan from Sasuke, a faint sort of dying noise, echoing the pained grimace on his face that’s covered as soon as he throws the comforter over his head, burrowing beneath it, unsuccessfully trying to disappear, leaving only visible a few tufts of dark hair.

Naruto blinks, finger scratching behind his ear as he watches Sasuke lying there seemingly lifeless, face made up with an uncertain concern. “…I’m starting to think I’ve been rubbing off on you a little too much.”

“…being around you is too much,” comes Sasuke’s muffled voice.

“I know you slept through most of it, but how do you think you ended up here in the first place? When I told you I’d carry you back, you said it was fine. You were even really nice to me about it. That’s how I knew you must’ve been really out of it, because you never use that kind of honorific speech with me.”

“…shut up, Naruto.”

“If it makes you feel any better, you’re a very weird, politely violent drunk,” Naruto says, thoughtful, searching in between the folds of the comforter to poke Sasuke’s shoulder. “Kind of freaked Kiba out, I think. How polite you actually were, when you started threatening him with a plastic spoon. Really, though, he shouldn’t have been teasing you like that, but it’s not like he’s the kind of guy who’d hold it against you.”

“This is all your fault.”

“Why is everything always my fault? I didn’t make you get drunk off that one tiny little glass.”

“ _Because_.”

Leaning over, Naruto lifts the comforter from over Sasuke’s head, peeking underneath it, grinning when he encounters an exceptionally grumpy glare.“I don’t know if you’re acting like this because you have a hangover, or embarrassed because you got so drunk—but then you always act this cranky around me, anyway, so I’m not sure if there’s really a difference at this point.”

“…why are you here, Naruto?”

“Because I found you?”

“No, I…why are you still here?”

“Because we’re still in my apartment, and you’re still using my futon,” Naruto says easily. He pushes the comforter further away, letting it fall on Sasuke’s back. “Where else would I be?”

Sasuke breathes out softly, closing his eyes. “…I didn’t ask you to do any of this for me.”

“You really are a picky guy when you want to be, you know that.”

“Being subjected to your constant screeching doesn’t do anything for me, either.”

“I don’t know what you’re worried about. Nobody’s going to treat you any different, so stop letting it bother you so much, all right.”

Eyes opened, Sasuke sighs with a huff, pushing away stray dark strands fallen over his face. “…I didn’t say it bothered me.”

“Well, no, but I kind of noticed you have this thing about not being seen a certain way. When it comes to being able to do things on your own, it’s like, for whatever reason, you have this thing about not allowing other people to help you. Even me sometimes. But you really shouldn’t worry about that sort of thing. There’s nothing wrong with not being perfect.”

“You would know.”

“Okay. See. I’m going to choose to be the bigger person here and be considerate enough to let that one pass, since I know why you’re being so cranky,” Naruto says. “Not that I’m a serious lightweight like you. And not that I’ve ever had a really bad hangover. But even for me, that whiskey was pretty strong.”

“Naruto…”

“With all the grudges you like to hold against me, knowing you’re such a lightweight, yeah, I’m not letting you live this one down. Can’t wait till you find out what Kenji changed your name to on his phone.”

Sasuke makes that pained sort of dying moan again.

Again, Naruto ignores this. “Although Shikamaru did mention a study from way back in ’96 or something, about people from the Chuugoku region being more likely to have a lower tolerance. Which is true for you, I guess, since you are from Yamaguchi.

“That guy, he’s a surprisingly talkative drunk.”

“Why won’t you stop talking and let me die in peace.”

“Oh, yeah,” Naruto says, quick with the snap of his fingers. “That reminds me. Chouji stopped by earlier with food for you. Some type of special homemade miso, I think he said.”

He readjusts the small red towel hanging from around his neck, running a hand through darkened blond hair still a bit damp. “Even though I told him you’d be okay, he was still worried about you, so…”

Sasuke blinks, mouth forming a soft _oh_ of surprise. He glances down at the pillow, brows knit, lips pursed, until he makes an absent reach for Naruto’s wrist, turning it over to read the digital face of Naruto’s black watch.

“I didn’t realise it was already so late.” He releases Naruto’s wrist, not quite holding back a frown. “Remind me to call him later. He really didn’t have to go through so much trouble for my sake.”

“The guy who brought you food, you can tell him thank you. But me,” Naruto says, cut off by his own disbelief, head cocked to the side, “the guy who willingly took care of you, somehow, I’m the worst person in the world.”

“It’s almost ten. You should’ve woken me up earlier.”

“You do know you’re not a morning person, right? No way was I going to risk getting accidentally smacked in the face again.”

“You were too close to me.”

“How was I too—you fell asleep on me, Sasuke. Literally. And it wasn’t like I was going to shove you off or anything, not when I knew you were that tired. Plus, you got drool all over me.”

“I don’t drool.”

“Do too.”

“…I don’t.”

“Face it, Sasuke. I’ve seen you drool. And after the whole drooling thing, I don’t see why you’re so embarrassed about last night. What you said to Kiba, the way you said it to him, it really was pretty funny. You even had Shou spit out a piece of chicken liver on the floor.”

“It’s not a funny name to have,” Sasuke murmurs, starting to nod off, but then he opens his eyes, blinking a few times, forcing himself to stay awake. “But that’s not Kiba’s fault. It’s yours.”

“You’re still holding that against me?”

Sasuke only offers up another glare, still grumpy but a little more subdued.

“Why are you holding me responsible for what Kiba called you?”

“Why would Kiba even think to call me that at all?”

Naruto hides behind a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay, so, before I actually got to know you, because of the whole shaman stick thing, and the two of us not getting along, I might’ve started calling you Himi—look, the point is, you don’t need to worry about it, all right. I already told Kiba not to call you that anymore.

“And he’s not going to,” he adds, not without a little annoyance seeping into his voice. “Whether you can hear it or not.”

“You’re the one who came up with it.”

“I know I did, yeah, but that’s between us, though. That’s different.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? You don’t like being called that. You don’t even let me call you that. So I told Kiba to stop doing it.”

Sasuke shifts his arms on the pillow, curled beneath the comforter, body fully turned towards Naruto. His eyes fall closed, yet once more open slowly, peering at Naruto with a much more notably sleepy gaze.

“I mean, uh—it only makes sense that you don’t like being called that, since it’s something that bothers you, and that’s why Kiba should know better than to call you that, because you don’t like it, which is why I had to tell him not to, so, uh…”

Sasuke continues to stare at him with the same hazy expression, with dark eyes that somehow manage to look a little more bright, and Naruto swallows, fingers restless toying with the stretchy fabric of his grey training shorts.

“…anyway, it won’t seem so bad once you sleep it off, okay. Hopefully, you won’t be so cranky by then, either—here.”Naruto reaches to his right, grabbing a clear plastic bottle, plain save for the wide blue label stretched around the top half. “I got this for you, too. I would’ve given you the Pocari Sweat the first time you woke up, but you went right back to sleep.

“If your headache’s really that bad, though, you should try it. Between this and the aspirin, Kenji said it should help you feel better.”

Sasuke makes a small disagreeable noise, scrunching his nose at the bottle Naruto holds towards him. “Too sweet.”

Naruto snorts. “Or you could drink more water. And maybe eat a banana, since the ones Shikamaru bought still aren’t ripe yet.”

“That’s fine,” Sasuke murmurs, and his eyes again begin to droop, as his breathing starts to level off. “But, Naruto...”

Naruto sets down the bottle of Pocari Sweat, placing it carefully on the floor. “Yeah?”

“…thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being someone like you.”

“I guess that’s the most you’re going to admit, right,” Naruto says, carries the words around an unhurried smile that gives way to a soft laugh. “Someone like me, huh.”

“Someone like you,” Sasuke whispers, “who still tries to look out for me, even though he doesn’t have to.”

For a moment, it’s as if Naruto forgot how to move, caught still in a single instance, cheeks harbouring more than a slight flush. He bites at the corner of his bottom lip, breaking the short stint of immobility, only to look away from the unguarded expression on Sasuke’s face, attention drawn to the neat stack of open blue cubes housing both his spare camera stuff and Sasuke’s extra art supplies.

“I already told you, didn’t I,” he says, pulling at the hem of his shorts covering his leg right up to his knee. “You’re my friend, Sasuke. My best friend. And I mean it. I don’t know how not to look out for you.”

Gaze brought down, he closes his eyes, arm extended taut, fingers curled into his palm, knuckles digging into the plush comforter spilled over onto the floor.

“I know you don’t like people doing things for you, that you don’t want people to think you can’t do things for yourself. But the idea of wanting to be there when you need me, wanting you to be able to rely on someone like me,” he whispers, voice already quiet growing even softer, eyes he’s seemingly unable to open kept tightly closed, “…is it really so bad?

“Because after last night, being with you, I’m starting to think it’s more than just—

“Sasuke?”

One at a time, Naruto begins to open his eyes, fingers unfurled, no longer waits to exhale when he sees Sasuke still wearing the same unguarded look on his face, lying comfortably in the borrowed futon as if it were his own, completely oblivious to the near confession Naruto didn’t quite get a chance to make.

“Falling asleep on me so easily like this, I guess I should be used to it by now.”

Naruto sighs, taking in a breath heavy from his chest. His smile this time takes a little longer to come, not so easy-going, mellowed by the noticeable kind of disappointment too draining to keep, the far less confident kind of smile that always seems to make Sasuke frown.

“But taking care of you, Sasuke, that’s…”

So Naruto tries again, even though Sasuke can’t hear him reaches for the comforter, laying it to cover enough of Sasuke to make sure he won’t get too cold.

And maybe when Sasuke wakes up again, when he gets to see Sasuke smile that way at him again, just maybe…

“…I’m starting to think that’s something I really don’t mind.”


	39. To Set the World in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"How'd you go from Chinese pork dumplings to Krispy Kreme doughnuts?" ___

Before he even set foot on campus, Naruto made it a personal mission to be on a first name basis with the entire student body by the time he was a senior. As the self-proclaimed reluctant straight man in their relationship, Kiba told him setting unrealistic goals was a set-up for failure, but also reassured Naruto that when the time came, he would take his responsibilities seriously and buy a paper fan to commemorate the occasion, by smacking some sense into Naruto’s head.

Of course, Kiba didn’t actually go out and buy a fan. Or at least it wouldn’t make an appearance until later, because then Naruto being able to show off the extent of his people skills meant Kiba was too busy having to take his foot out of his mouth.

And yeah, maybe he let himself brag for a moment or two, joked he was worried about reaching the limit on his phone too soon, because every time anyone underestimates him, it only makes him that much more determined to prove they aren’t right.

He still remembers that conversation with Kiba, a little under two months into their first term, when Kiba accused of him coming to school just to get other people’s numbers—numbers he immediately turned around to say Naruto should use to set him up with any cute looking girls he shouldn’t go through life without being introduced to—since Naruto was only using higher education as an excuse to find ways to take up the blank spaces in his contact list, which, considering how full it’s gotten after a year, isn’t really all that untrue.

But even after a year at Tama, there’s a part of him that’s still holding on to that dream of one day becoming a world famous photographer, of one day making sure everyone would know the Great Uzumaki Naruto.

He’s always wanted to make a name for himself. Still does. But he likes to think he’s a little more mature now, that he isn’t that same eight year old who actually referred to himself as the Great Uzumaki Naruto out loud in front of people other than his parents or Jiraiya and Tsunade; and actually filled in the empty white boxes where his name should be with characters reading the Great Uzumaki Naruto, whenever he had to turn in worksheets during elementary school.

At the same time, though, the older he gets, the harder it seems to shake off his dad’s shadow. It wasn’t so bad at first, during those first couple years in high school, being known as the son of Namikaze Minato, even outside his parents’ exclusive circle of friends, but when he seriously started to get into photography, when he finally saved up enough money to buy his very first professional camera all on his own, by then just wanted to be Naruto.

Even if people don’t mean to most of the time, it doesn’t stop them from being quick to judge, quick to compare him to his dad. And he gets that. They already look so much alike, more like brothers standing side by side than father and son, and as much as he admires his dad, with everything his dad’s taught him, as much as he’s still inspired by him, even he can’t help but make subconscious comparisons between his own sense of achievement and his dad’s long list accomplishments in a field like photography.

But even before his parents gave him that plastic toy camera on his birthday, even before he was old enough to appreciate the difference between being acknowledged as Uzumaki Naruto and Namikaze Naruto, ever since he can remember, he’s always had this thing about standing out, about needing to be noticed, about not wanting to be just another person in the crowd, used to do a lot of things for the wrong kind of attention that landed him in trouble more than a few times.

He’s not shy about it. Never had problems making friends because of it. That’s just the kind of guy he is, and as long as he tries to do the right thing, he tries not to worry too much about the people he’ll never be able to please.

According to Sasuke, though, he’s too loud. He’s too abrasive, overbearing most of the time, a perpetual annoyance all the time, the kind of guy who always draws too much attention to himself, always making a scene because he always tries too hard to separate himself from the people around him.

Not that he’s seriously going to take to heart that kind of unnecessary criticism from the standoffish guy who walks around with a personal bubble the size of a Honda Fit.

And yet he still…

He’d never claim to be the most intelligent guy out there, even less so next to someone like Sasuke, who’s the kind of book smart it’d take more than just studying for him to be. And while he’d never claim to be the dumbest guy out there, either, he can admit he doesn’t really understand how or when Sasuke became someone he wanted to acknowledge him.

It’s not that he feels like he needs to prove himself, or that he’s actually trying to impress Sasuke, nothing like that, but even around a nit-picky guy like that, an unexpectedly roundabout guy who can go from thoughtful consideration to backwards compliment, and switchover to uncalled-for commentary nobody asked to hear, fast enough to give any sane person whiplash—being around Sasuke, more than just standing out from everyone else, suddenly, it’s become this all important thing to make sure Sasuke keeps looking at him.

_“Not understanding all the terminology for Western aesthetics doesn’t mean you’re not smart, Naruto. Even for you, I couldn’t say that. You can be an incredibly dense idiot sometimes, yeah.”_

_“Really, Sasuke? Really? And that’s supposed to be encouraging to help me write this paper_ how _?”_

_“Mm, it’s not. Because it’s amazing anyone could survive this far in life being that dense.”_

_“What the—”_

_“But the way you see things, the way you’re somehow able to just…all that means is you have a different way of thinking. And in all the ways you think it makes you different, those are the same ways that will always make you Naruto to me.”_

Beneath all the name-calling and empty threats and in between all the teasing and not so intimidating glares that never really were, whenever Sasuke’s not pretending to be mean for the sake of being mean, just really, really anal retentive at times, despite not believing Suigetsu that day the first time around, Naruto can admit Suigetsu was actually right. Sasuke really is a genuinely nice guy.

(Completely putting aside Sasuke’s apparent attempt to break the current record for holding grudges, because seriously, how long does he plan on holding the shaman stick thing over Naruto?)

It took a while to get there, though. The day when he met Sasuke, he’s kind of starting to doubt Sasuke will ever let them get past that, never mind the fact Sasuke was the one who tried to maim him in the back of his legs with a wooden sword. Also, never mind the fact Naruto was the one who accidently scared Sasuke by coming up on him from behind.

But at least they were able to get past the Green Hall incident, where accusing Sasuke of being a rokurokubi with a demonic crotch somehow led to him falling face first right into a tomato-faced Sasuke’s lap, in front of seemingly half the population on campus.

They were able to get past the time Sasuke totally overreacted and pulled a move straight out of Kung Fu Hustle, nearly flipping Naruto over like the incarnation of some bad guy extra from Kamen Rider just for touching him on the shoulder. Never mind it was the second time Naruto accidentally scared Sasuke. It only had to happen twice for him to learn how much Sasuke really, really doesn’t like being surprised from behind.

And they were even able to get past Naruto’s very, very embarrassing sort of not declaration, when his attempt to get Sasuke’s attention, attempt to get Sasuke not to leave, to listen, turned into blurting across an emptied hallway that he liked Sasuke’s handwriting.

Which isn’t at all why he was even following Sasuke in the first place. He was just trying to apologise for what happened that day in the Green Hall, because he really did feel bad about it, realised he’d taken things a little too far, except he almost ended up making the situation worse.

Although somewhere in between all the insults exchanged on notes passed back and forth using Suigetsu as a delivery service, since Naruto wasn’t and still isn’t old enough to resist name-calling just yet, either, what started off as a question of if, became a matter of time before Sasuke became this guy he thought of as his friend.

They’re not that close. At least not yet, he wants to think. Because he doesn’t want to think he’s drawn to Sasuke for reasons having anything to do with Sasuke’s stupidly pretty handwriting that still gives him this strange kind of tickle in his chest—this really funny feeling that still reminds him of all the stories his mom used to tell him about her grandmother Mito, before they adopted Sakura and Ino, when he’d sit on his mom’s lap, and together they’d go through photo albums of the relatives he never got a chance to meet, go through these really old traditional scrapbooks offering glimpses in time preserving what’s left of his mom’s small little family, and sometimes she’d take his hand in hers, help him trace over each delicate stroke of the intricate characters people like him and his mom could only try to imitate.

It’s no secret he and Sasuke got off on a bad start, sure, but the more time he spent around Sasuke, as he slowly got to know him, as he started to think of him as _Sasuke_ , the more easily he found himself drawn to this person he never really knew. And with each time he’d watch Sasuke walk away, he was driven to push that much further next time to make Sasuke stop and notice him.

Somewhere along the line, eventually, Sasuke did. From the first time he offered to share his lunch when Naruto forgot to bring his wallet, to when Sasuke sometimes tries to get him to eat healthier, from time to time whenever he makes those scrunched up little faces at Naruto’s habit of nearly drowning everything in Kewpie mayonnaise, because beyond all the seemingly blank and bored expressions Naruto’s grown used to, Sasuke has a ridiculously expressive face, and even the smallest little movements can make the biggest difference—the kind of difference Naruto wishes he had the chance to capture on film, every time he gets caught off guard by the subtle kind of softness in dark eyes still soeasy to miss, even from behind the lens.

It’s more than about being able to get Sasuke’s attention, though, and not because Sasuke used to ignore him. Plenty of people have done that before, have evengone out of their way to avoid him, especially if they were trying to be polite about it without being too direct. It doesn’t bother him so much now, not anymore, because worrying about things like that would’ve slowed him down a long time ago.

Still, he can admit he kind of does ramble off on things he’s passionate about every now and then, maybe tends to talk a little more than some people are prepared for, yet despite this, before they could be considered anything close to friends, way before he even knew Sasuke’s name, Sasuke’s always had this sort of knack for remembering all the little things Naruto would say, even if it was just so he could use it later onto throw back in Naruto’s face.

And maybe that’s the real reason why it’s so important to do whatever he can to get Sasuke to notice him, to make sure Sasuke keeps looking at him, because he likes how comfortable it is to be around him, likes being able to talk to someone he knows will listen, someone who actually believes he has interesting things to say. It’s hard to pull away from that kind of attention, to keep coming back without wanting more of it, and maybe that’s why…

He tries not rock on the balls of his feet, tries not to seem too eager, right hand resting against the edge of the broad metal table behind him. He waits in the silence of the small studio, one of the older, renovated rooms that don’t get used as much because the newer studios are more popular.

Still looking down, Sasuke’s sitting on top of the table across from him, thumb trailing over the spine of the small shrink-wrapped box Naruto all but shoved into his hands. 

“So…” Naruto chews on his lower lip, flexing his free hand, fingers pressed above the hem of his dark grey shirt, trying to curb a nervous impatience that makes him feel a lot less confident than he’s comfortable with. “What do you think?”

Sasuke looks up, watching Naruto with a near frown. “It’s a Luna Sea CD.”

“Four Luna Sea CDs,” Naruto says, holding up four fingers, because this is a very important thing to stress. “Special edition box set. Comes with remastered tracks. Instrumental and symphonic. Autographed collector’s book, too. It’s supposed to be a gift.”

“A gift.”

“I know you’re not the type of guy who likes to make a big deal out of these kinds of things, but I just happened to see it in the store, so...”

“You just happened to see it in the store.”

“It’s brand new and everything,” Naruto adds, moving away from the table to stand closer to Sasuke. “And here, look,” he says, unable to help getting a little more excited. He reaches to turn the box set over so Sasuke can see the promo sticker with the tiny font, palm brushing over the back of Sasuke’s hand.

“It even comes with a matching keychain and special edition USB stick that already has all the songs on it. And I thought that was pretty cool because it’s still practical, too, you know. Since you can use the space for school stuff, if you want.

“Plus, it’s not like I could get my hands on tickets for their reunion comeback tour or anything. I don’t have the kind of money to get them so late, but I still, uh…”

He steps away with a sheepish laugh, both arms falling back to his sides with a heavy slap that seems a little too loud in the otherwise empty studio. “….well, there is it. Be nice if you said something about today, though. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t realise it was something you needed to know,” Sasuke says, with a not quite there level of indifference, and Naruto narrows his eyes, more confused than really upset, because he was honestly expecting a more obvious reaction from Sasuke at this point. “Who told you?”

“Chouji.”

He found out about Sasuke’s birthday yesterday, actually. Out of the blue, after coming over to visit Shikamaru, Chouji just asked if Naruto knew Sasuke’s birthday was the day after today, and then told Shikamaru it was only interfering if Naruto didn’t know, which Shikamaru pointed out that he didn’t, although whatever those two were talking about, Naruto was a little more preoccupied trying to come up with a last minute gift for Sasuke that would be the right thing to give.

“Chouji told you?”

“The guy even worse than you when it comes to holding grudges.”

“If Kiba would ask before helping himself to someone else’s food, Chouji really wouldn’t mind.”

“That, too.”

“…but how’d you even know I like Luna Sea?” Sasuke looks down again, legs dangling from over the edge of the table, gazed fixed on the box set. “I never...”

He already knows Sasuke doesn’t like making a scene, getting especially touchy all the times Naruto didn’t mean to drag him into the middle of one or two. But trying to get a gift for Sasuke on such short notice, at first, he thought about going to Suigetsu for advice, because Suigetsu is Sasuke’s roommate, and following that chain of thought would typically make sense. But then he remembered Kenji, who doesn’t like to call him Blondie, or like to speak too much random Korean he knows Naruto doesn’t understand. 

“Of course, I knew you wouldn’t be any help,” he says, with a pointed look that’s hard to keep from turning into a grin. “You never like talking about yourself. But I tried talking to Kenji, and he said some of your favourite songs were on your Nii playlist.”

At the mention of the playlist, there’s the faintest hint of a blush that spreads across Sasuke’s cheeks, nothing too obvious, but Naruto doesn’t know if the embarrassment has something to do with Kenji, or the idea that Naruto put any thought behind the gift, because Sasuke’s kind of iffy like that. “Sorry I couldn’t find anything out about Nii, though. Never heard of them before, but since there were a bunch of Luna Sea songs on it, I thought you still might like it.

“It was either Luna Sea, or that Block B group Suigetsu said you’ve been listening to a lot lately, but I figured you’d like this better. Because Luna Sea, that is the kind of music you’re into, right? The older rock stuff middle-aged men like you grew up listening to.”

“…it is.” Sasuke glances between Naruto and the box set carefully held in both hands.“You were right about me not wanting to do that kind of celebratory thing for my birthday. I really wasn’t expecting anything, though.”

“I’m not doing this because I thought you were expecting something from me. I’m doing it because I wanted to do something for your birthday. That doesn’t have to be so bad, does it?”

“Does this mean you expect me to get you a gift for your birthday?”

“…yes?” Not sure if it’s a trick question, Naruto draws out his answer, then pauses, searching for some kind of cue from Sasuke’s very unhelpful, blank expression. “I mean, no. It wouldn’t bother me if you didn’t, I should say. It’s not like I don’t appreciate all the other stuff you do for me, even if you’re picky about it, but, um...” He makes a slight gesture with his head. “You know. That’s not why I bought you a gift.

“I’m not that bad…at least I don’t think.”

“...you couldn’t have wrapped it? Or at least put it in a gift bag?”

“Why are you being so stingy, you ungrateful jerk?” This time Naruto can’t help but break into a wide grin, laughing at the tiny little movement at the corner of Sasuke’s lips that makes him wonder if he’ll ever get a chance to take a photo of Sasuke in a moment like this one day. “I really did put a lot of thought into getting you a thoughtful gift.”

“You did?”

“Nope, you don’t get to give me that look. After I went through all the trouble of trying not making a big deal out of your birthday, cut me some slack here, all right.”

“No, I—thank you, Naruto. I really do appreciate it. Honestly, it’s just, when I said I wasn’t expecting anything...” The smile doesn’t disappear from his face completely, stays a little while longer, a lot more undecided, but Sasuke still turns away, placing the box set aside, on top of the oversized black portfolio laid flat next to him on the table.“…you didn’t have to waste your money on something like this.”

“Ah, actually, it wasn’t that much.” With a finger, Naruto scratches the underside of his chin. “And besides, it’s only a waste of money if you don’t like it. So, as long as you like it...”

The words fall into another stretch of silence, leave too much room for a wall of quiet between them he isn’t really sure how to read. But the most uncomfortable thing about it is realising how uncomfortable Sasuke looks, not necessarily awkward, just more closed-off than Naruto’s seen him in a while.

He likes to think of himself as a naturally friendly guy, but he knows his personality can come across a little strong. He’s been called straightforward a lot, and not just by Sasuke. A few times he’s even been called too nice a guy for his own good. It isn’t like he tries to be that way on purpose, but maybe this is one of those times where he unintentionally pushed too hard.

“You shouldn’t let yourself think so hard in front of other people, Naruto. It shows.”

Naruto sucks his teeth. “Every time I try to do the right thing with you…”

“Calling me middle-aged?”

“Because that’s what you act like, but anyway…um, hey, listen, you don’t have any family nearby, right? So, and this is just an idea I got earlier—not that I’m saying you have to agree to it or anything—but you want to go hang out?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah, I…” Naruto glances to the side, running a hand through his hair, taking a step forward before brining himself to meet Sasuke’s eyes. “I know I came by on short notice, but I kind of wanted it to be part of the surprise. There’s this really cool Chinese place I found that I wanted to show you. If you want to go, that is.”

“The two of us?”

“Y-yeah, me and you. Just to get out for a little while. Give us the chance to catch up. Why not?”Naruto offers a casual shrug of his shoulders. “I know we’re on different tracks and everything, but that doesn’t mean you get to hold out on me. I’m kind of upset I had to hear about that new cloudscape series you’re working on from Kenji. You know how much I really like cloudscapes, don’t you.”

“You’ve talked about it enough, but since when does a camera nerd like you care for anything outside photography? They’re just paintings.”

“But they’re not just paintings. They’re your ink paintings. And just because I like to take pictures doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the other stuff, too. Especially with how much I have to put up with Kiba always leaving his crap at my place. Give me a little more credit than that. Besides, if that was the case, I don’t think I’d apply for an art school like Tama.”

“Giving me the box set is enough. Like I said, I wasn’t expecting anything from you, because we aren’t really…”

“Maybe it doesn’t seem like we’ve known each other that long, but with all the time we’ve had so far, is it okay that I already think of us as friends?”

“Naruto, I…”

“Come on, it’ll be fun. It’s not too far from campus, either, right by the 100-yen shop. And it’s small, too. Laid-back. Never gets crowded. Just the kind of spot you’d like. And the guy who owns the place, Michael, I met him the other day. He’s still learning Japanese, but he knows enough to get by. Real nice guy.

“His family’s from Nanyang, so he’s really good with that style of food, and the dry-fried pork dumplings he makes—I’m telling you, even if you don’t end up trying anything else, you go there for the dry-fried pork dumplings he makes.

“Seriously, they’re that good. And I mean really good. Like eating warm, original glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the morning right before having to go to an early class kind of good. I even think they’re better than the pan-fried gyouza served down at that conbini everybody always goes to.”

Sasuke almost laughs, gives this real soft sort of smile he tries to hide with a slight tilt of his head. “How’d you go from Chinese pork dumplings to Krispy Kreme doughnuts?”

“You need to go there with me some time.”

“Krispy Kreme?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely.”

“What if I don’t like doughnuts?”

“Then I’ll find something else on menu I know you will.”

Sasuke snorts, straightening the dark green paintbrush tucked behind his ear. “Is this you threatening to drag me there one day?”

“A little, I guess. If you want to think of it that way, I won’t stop you. But only after I treat you for your birthday, though.” Naruto smiles. “Good food is still good food, you know. And when you get to share it with someone, that’s always good, too, sometimes even better, so I just thought taking you somewhere for your birthday would be nice. That way, you won’t have to spend a day like this by yourself.”

“Who said I’d have to spend today by myself?”

“Showing up for class doesn’t count.”

“Even if I could go right now, though, I couldn’t go anywhere like this.”

Naruto starts to lean forward a little closer, aware of the steady distance kept between them as Sasuke starts to draw back. He narrows his eyes, studying Sasuke, trying to figure out whatever it is that’s apparently preventing Sasuke from going anywhere.

Sasuke’s already one of those fussy personality types, but he doesn’t usually mind the small blotches of dark ink that always seem to find a way between his fingers, or the stray flecks of paint that somehow gets all over his hands, sometimes colours his shirts, because he’s a little messier with the coloured media he doesn’t like to use—messy in a way it’s always been easy for Naruto to picture, one of the first things he notices on days like this after Sasuke’s spent a morning in the studio.

Sometimes, a little of it gets on Sasuke’s face, too, traces of dark ink that leave one or two faint marks Sasuke won’t notice until Naruto points them out, so most times Naruto doesn’t, pushes down the growing urges to wipe them away without leaving smudges, because it’s one of those things that make up the Sasuke he’s come to know—except there’s nothing on Sasuke’s face today, so whatever it is Sasuke can see, Naruto doesn’t.

“What’s wrong with the way you look?”

There’s a slight hesitation from Sasuke, this strange sort of far off expression that makes Naruto think he’s missing something important; it feels like this is one of those moments where Sasuke’s mentally writing him off as a lost cause.

Or silently questioning his intelligence…maybe.

Probably.

“I just finished cleaning my brushes,” Sasuke says, making a slight gesture towards the bottom half of his shirt that only has a few streaks of tinted blue paint. “I have paint all over me.”

“So?”

“So you just assumed I didn’t already have plans?”

“…do you?”

“I do. With Juugo.”

Swallowing, Naruto bites back on a welling sense of disappointment, tries not to let it show, keeps his head high, doesn’t let his shoulders fall, because he should’ve asked Sasuke ahead of time, shouldn’t have just assumed Sasuke would be here waiting for him, because it’s not fair to expect Sasuke doesn’t have a life outside the two of them, whatever friendship he wants them to have, even if it sometimes feels like he’s in over his head, like he’s always going to be chasing after Sasuke at arm’s length, so he fights to hold on to a wavering smile, makes himself laugh a little louder, shaking his head trying to brush off the unexpected hollow feeling that suddenly takes up too much space in his chest.

“Yeah, it was a stupid idea, anyway. Just something to throw out there. Wasn’t like I was actually expecting you to say yes or anything.”

“I didn’t say no, either. But I already told Juugo I’d help him study.”

“…oh.” The hollow feeling in his chest starts to fade, completely dies away, and Naruto licks his lips, rubbing his palm against the side of his pants, not really sure what else to do with himself, surprised by his own increasing sense of relief. “Well, it wasn’t like I—wait, wait, that’s all you’re planning on doing today, helping Juugo study?” He squints, giving Sasuke a funny look. “You really don’t like celebrating your birthday, do you?”

“I already told you that, you dork. It’s just another day. Why would I turn Juugo down if he asked for help? You’re the one trying to make a big deal out of nothing.”

“What about tomorrow, then? Is that another day, too?”

“It’s not my birthday.”

“So…”

Sasuke reaches for the long paintbrush tucked behind his ear, rotating it between two fingers, using the blunt end to poke Naruto on the shoulder. “Fine.”

Naruto blinks, less thrown off by Sasuke randomly poking him with a not so sharp object than the fact that Sasuke agreed so easily to go along with one of his ideas. “Really?”

“You offered, didn’t you? This way you won’t bother me about it anymore.”

“I won’t bother you if you tell me no.”

“Then you owe me lunch tomorrow.”

“I can take you out for lunch?”

Sasuke glances to the side, taking a moment to think, but then he looks back to Naruto with one of those soft little reserved smiles that somehow seems to make the grin already spread across Naruto’s face grow just a little wider. “No, I’m letting you buy me lunch.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Same difference, right,” Naruto agrees, still grinning when he gets another poke on the shoulder. “It’ll be great. I promise.”

“Stop being such a dork. It’s just lunch. Nothing we haven’t done before.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I never had the chance to share lunch with you on your birthday before, so I can’t help it if I’m a little excited, okay.” Naruto brings his hands together with a soft clap. “We don’t have class after two tomorrow, so I’m thinking we can get together around two-thirty? We can even stop by the fountain where you tried to kill me the first time we met. It’s actually not that far a walk from there.”

“…you really are an impossible guy, Uzumaki Naruto,” Sasuke murmurs.

“Oh, so you do remember my name.”

“Not like you’d let anyone forget.” Sasuke snorts. “It’s amazing you even know how to say anything else.”

It’s a challenge if he’s ever heard one, so Naruto does his best to meet it, the corners of his mouth upturned into an easier kind of smile, features settled with an expression a lot softer, a lot more unassuming, and he responds to the teasing gleam in dark eyes with a simple whisper of four little words. “Happy Birthday, Uchiha Sasuke.”

There’s a moment of offended silence, as Sasuke begins to make all these surprising little funny looking faces, somewhere in the middle pops up this brief flicker of _disturbed_ in Sasuke’s eyes that just barely misses crossing over into the territory of downright mortified. 

Recovering with a short intake of breath, lips pursed with an even shorter exhale, he doesn’t turn away, but he turns on Naruto the most embarrassed kind of irritated glare that does absolutely nothing to deter Naruto’s smile.

“See, I know how to say your name, too.”

“No, you know how to talk too much.”

“I don’t think it counts if you don’t mind listening.”

“Since when do I listen to you?” 

Naruto tugs on the short sleeve of his shirt, chest falling with an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, I guess that is pushing it a little. I just get excited about birthdays, you know. And since mine’s all the way in October—not to say I changed my mind about expecting anything from you on the fifth, but since we’re officially friends now, I’m kind of looking forward to being able to share my birthday with you.”

Sasuke frowns at Naruto, eyes narrowed in confusion. “Why would I get you anything on the fifth? Your birthday’s on the tenth, not the—I mean, I…”

The frown turns into this sort of half-pinched, long-suffering expression, then another irritated glare, followed alongside an unbalanced retribution calling for too much poking that feels more like a too eager imitation of highly excessive stabbing motions against Naruto’s shoulder.

“Hey, don’t take your violent tendencies out on me. I didn’t make you—quit it. Stop poking me already.”

“I’m still not buying you anything.”

“I already said you don’t have to.”

Sasuke sighs with an annoyed huff, left hand still holding the paintbrush pushing away the hair covering the side of his face. “…it's like a war of attrition with you.”

“Does that mean I’m winning?”

Sasuke all but rolls his eyes. “It’s not a compliment.”

“I don’t know, Sasuke. You didn’t say we’re not officially friends now, but you didn’t say I wasn’t winning, either, so I think that officially means we’re friends now. Don’t you think letting me treat you to lunch for your birthday officially makes us friends now?”

“Don’t you think you should stop being so annoying?”

“Answering my question with a question isn’t answering my question.”

“Why would I want us to be seen together in public, you loser.”

“We’re back to loser?”

“Brainless wonder.”

At the soft bristles tickling his cheek, Naruto gets a light grip on Sasuke’s wrist. “Brainless wonder, huh. That’s new.”

“It fits.”

“Does it?”

“Naruto.”

“…yeah?”

“Are you going to let go?”

“Depends. Are you going to poke me again?”

Sasuke twirls the paintbrush between his fingers, using the other end to poke Naruto in the cheek. “You keep staring at me like I have something on my face.”

“Nah, I wasn’t staring at you.” Naruto relaxes his fingers, releasing Sasuke’s wrist. “There’s nothing on your face to stare at.”

“You weren’t staring.”

“Just waiting for you to answer my question.”

“…and if I say yes?”

“That’d be a first.”

With an amused snort, Sasuke slips his paintbrush behind his ear, blunt side up, and hops off the table. He reaches for the Luna Sea box set, holding it in one hand, while his other arm reaches through one of the wide, extended straps of his nylon portfolio, swinging the portfolio over his back,

“I need to go before you make me late,” he says, sidestepping Naruto and heading for the door.

“You still didn’t answer my question.”

Halfway across the room, Sasuke pauses, turning back towards Naruto, fingers curled around his strap. “Didn’t I tell you to stop thinking so hard in front of other people?”

“Sasuke, you—”

“Bye, Naruto.”

Before Naruto has a chance to get anything else in, Sasuke turns on his heel, already walking away, already disappearing through the door, but Naruto isn’t in a hurry to try to catch up. He just lets himself smile, doesn’t let himself worry about Sasuke refusing to give him a straight answer, because he already caught what Sasuke tried too late to hide, and when each of those small little movements happen to come together on Sasuke’s face all at once, it really does make a world of difference.


	40. Sólo Somos Tú y Yo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Is it all right if I just…will you let me touch you?"_

The physical act of sex itself doesn’t necessarily have to be intimate. For him, sex has always been a casual thing, simply for the sake of doing what makes him feel good. That’s why he likes it. Being sensitive may have something to do with how much he actually does enjoy having sex, but as long as he’s able to get off, it’s not really something that bothers him.

Finicky, is what Naruto likes to call him, which he can admit is true to some extent, although he personally prefers the term naturally selective; the fact that he likes being touched during sex doesn’t negate any boundaries he’s established outside of it, something Naruto still seems to have trouble comprehending.

_“My hand has been down your pants, Sasuke. You will actually let me put my hand. Down your pants. But you won’t let me sit next to you on the couch?”_

_“Because you’re trying to sit next to me, while your breath still smells like that egg sandwich you had.”_

_“My breath doesn’t even—”_

_“Try to come anywhere near me with that mouth, and you will be on the floor.”_

_“So I’m not even good enough to breathe near you anymore, huh? Is that it? Is that how it’s going to be?”_

_“What’re you doing, you idi—get off me, Naruto. You’re too close. Let go before you make me—stop trying to breathe on—get your mouth away from me.”_

He’s generally kept people at a polite distance, even more so in regards to sex, and in the past has tried his best to avoid any potentially awkward situations.

Still, he’s had more than his fair share of second-hand embarrassment, usually from the types of guys too enamoured by the sound of their own voice, a little too full of themselves; mixed in with the ones who wrongly assumed he cared to hear their nonexistent relationship woes, when they were using sex to make themselves feel better, as if being a favourable comparison to whatever ex somehow elevated that single encounter beyond the status of a one-night stand; or even some of the guys who were overly attentive, almost tedious in the way they treated him, too swept up in whatever preconceived notions they thought having sex with him would entail.

At least most of the time it was still good.

As much as he enjoys sex, though, having a preference for guys doesn’t mean he looks to any guy he comes across in a sexual sense. There’s always been a clear distinction between his sex life and other aspects of life; with anyone he’s met through school or work, anyone he may regularly see in passing, even if they’ve approached him for sex with no strings attached, they don’t fall into that category of guys he’d choose to sleep with, simply because the best way to avoid those kinds of potential conflicts is to not become involved altogether.

Sex is sex, and that’s all he’s felt it ever needed to be.

As well, most of the people he ends up spending time around are guys, anyway, and the small group of friends he’s made since coming to Tama, the majority of them are guys, too.

Guys like Kenji, who from when they met that first day in so many ways reminded him of Itachi, and Shikamaru, who became his friend well before he and Naruto were even close to being on a first-name basis.

While there are things he does admire about Kenji and Shikamaru, because of who they are as people, on different guys physical traits that would normally appeal to him (especially considering Kenji used to be pretty well regarded on campus for having model good looks), in the years they’ve known each other, he’s never held any sort of sexual attraction for either of them.

His friendship with Suigetsu is an exception, the only exception, when Suigetsu used to be his roommate and before they actually became friends, what began as fling simply extended out of convenience, sex that helped take off the initial edge those first couple weeks at Tama, after being away from his entire family for the very first time.

Between his sex life and his personal life, those are two aspects that normally don’t overlap, have no reason to clash like the sight of Naruto in that god-awful, orange bomber jacket he wears entirely too often, in Naruto’s wardrobe only one thing of far too many Sasuke is just biding his time for the opportunity to burn.

And when that defining moment came, when those two very distinct aspects of his life did collide, walking in on the sight of a shirtless Naruto doing one-armed push-ups in the middle of the living room, surprise didn’t quite cover it.

He was a little horrified, maybe, a growing part of him that much more determined to remain in denial, but mostly just left in a daze, because the idea that Naruto could be seen an even remotely, sexually attractive, it came straight out of left field.

The same Naruto who drowned nearly everything in Kewpie mayonnaise and always slurped his Cup Noodles too loudly, the same clumsy Naruto with the amazingly spectacular ability to trip over _air_.

He’d truly been blindsided, completely and utterly _blindsided_.

It happened during a visit to the apartment Naruto and Shikamaru used to share, because it was Friday, the day of the week Naruto had suggested they start doing drama nights, and that Friday Sasuke brought a copy of Iris that had been forced on him by Karin.

There was nothing building up to it, no gradual indications to warrant or evening the slightest prepare him for the sudden realisation that he actually did in fact find Naruto sexually attractive.

He’d seen Naruto without a shirt before. Numerous times he’d seen Naruto shirtless and sweaty. Too many times he’d had a sweaty and shirtless Naruto hanging off him, with an arm draped over his shoulders, a smelly Naruto who would just give him one of those easy, simple grins, squeeze him close a little tighter when he complained about Naruto bothering him instead of taking a shower.

Before that Friday, he’d thought nothing of it.

But the timbre of Naruto’s voice, low from the back of his throat, between controlled breaths the very edge of his words drawn hoarse, deliberate every inhale and exhale with each slow bend of his arm, each time he slowly pushed his body away from the floor, Naruto careful to maintain his form, his other arm held behind his back—a back Sasuke suddenly discovered a newfound, not so subtle appreciation for.

Still standing near the entryway, hews just staring.

He couldn’t stop _staring_.

For a moment, he was convinced, in those few seconds he found himself unable to look away from Naruto’s upper back, transfixed watching Naruto’s muscles flex, he was perfectly convinced he was suffering some sort of quarter-life crisis that he was going to blame entirely on having a heavier course load than last term.

But when Naruto asked him for a favour, when Naruto actually said, _Come sit on me,_ and then did absolutely nothing to clarify it by adding, _I want you to sit on me_ —something inside Sasuke’s brain just _broke_.

(In reality, Naruto wanted the extra weight on his back for a few sets, to help him train for that ridiculous bet he’d made with Kiba, because of course Naruto was still an _idi_ ot, and Sasuke refused to have an actual discussion about him sitting on Naruto’s back.)

Somewhere in the back of his mind, lodged in the part of his brain that wasn’t broken, he had acknowledged Naruto wasn’t necessarily unattractive. He’d seen girls approach Naruto before, sometimes bold enough to flirt with him, often times only to end up blushing and turning away as soon as Naruto smiled at them. Naruto was already a likeable person in general, with a personality that was naturally engaging, but he was also the incredibly boyish type, the kind of guy who seemed more approachable than most.

And yet, even after coming to terms with having a physical attraction for Naruto, more than just a passing notion of sex with Naruto, or this sudden, staggering concept that maybe Naruto did sort of tick off all those boxes for a type he never even knew he had, came the realisation that he _wanted_ to have sex with Naruto.

He already had a comfortable ease with Naruto. Everything that seemingly came along with their relationship as friends, sharing the kind of closeness he’d never really had with anyone outside his family, applied to his idiot-turned-best friend-still-idiot, the emotional bond was there.

That, he could handle. That didn’t seem so unreasonable anymore.

But having the element of physical attraction on top of it, and wanting more than just casual sex with Naruto, finally, it hit him that he _liked_ Naruto.

Liked Naruto enough that he actually wanted to pursue that kind of relationship with him.

Because Naruto had already become one of the most important people in his life.

…and he didn’t know if he’d be able to go back to a time before him.

Asking Naruto to share a place together, he doesn’t even know where that came from, because it was when things between them were still strictly platonic, and to take that chance, at best how everything about them could change if Naruto turned him down, at worst if Naruto decided to step out of his life, it was such an incredibly impulsive thing that he normally wouldn’t do.

But he’s still the one who did it.

He’s the one who kissed Naruto first, even if only to put a stop to that hackneyed yawn-and-stretch manoeuvre he still can’t believe Naruto had seriously tried to pull on him.

He’s the one who asked Naruto out for their first date, the one who wanted to take him to Shibuara, because it was a part of himself he really did want to share with Naruto.

But their first time having sex, that was Naruto.

One moment, they were having a regular conversation, Naruto standing close to him, nothing out of the ordinary. Then, the back of his legs were hitting the edge of bed, and Naruto was pushing him down, crawling over him, on his hands and knees peering down at him.

And when Naruto asked him if it was okay, he said yes.

It started off slowly, for that first minute or two Naruto lowering himself to slide against him, trying to cover him with the entirety of his body.

But once Naruto started to get a feel for it, started to get a feel for him, something in Naruto just seemed to click.

Despite how adverse Naruto wasn’t to all the kissing and touching up to that point, it was obvious he’d been holding back, but he still had urges, too, just like any other guy, so it wasn’t surprising when Naruto finally did act on them.

He just didn’t anticipate how strong those urges would actually be.

Whether it was ten minutes, five minutes, however long it lasted, the entire time, Naruto wouldn’t let up, wouldn’t give him room to think, barely any room to move, just kept going at him nonstop—hands seemingly everywhere within reach, touches unremitting, Naruto trying to consume every part of him all at once.

There were no breaks in between, just these slower intervals, and every few seconds Naruto would draw out it a little more, press further against him with small rotations of his hips, still quick during each shallow, deliberate thrust, chewing on his bottom lip, concentrating only on him.

And just as soon Naruto would pick it up again. Gripping Sasuke by the waist, pushing down on Sasuke’s shoulders, keeping Sasuke’s arms against the bed, holding them out at Sasuke’s sides, throwing them over Sasuke’s head—Naruto panting above him, head thrown back with his eyes shut, in between Sasuke’s shudders rolling his hips, changing the angle of his thrusts to match the way Sasuke moved, in time with the very way Sasuke _breathed_ , driving down on him harder the higher Sasuke’s gasps came, as if he were trying to sink into him, pressing against him deeper each time Sasuke said his name.

When it was all said and done, they still had their clothes on.

And he was still reeling from it, when Naruto rolled over to lie down beside him still trying to catch his breath, limbs loose, face flushed, spent but very much sated, despite being a little uncomfortable still wearing jeans, settling well into the really nice kind of sex-induced haze.

“…sorry, I…wow.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Me and you, we just…”

“Mm.”

“Was it…”

“Mm.”

“I just had my first time with a guy, and that’s all you have to say?”

“…yeah.”

Naruto snorted. “You were kind of quiet, though. For some reason, I thought you’d be really loud in bed.”

Sasuke gave a careless toss of his arm, flinging it somewhere in Naruto’s general vicinity, wilfully closing his eyes to Naruto’s loud cry of pain at the hand that ended up smacking him in the face.

“Mm.” 

Since then, they’ve stuck to kissing and heavy petting, overall a lot of touching, eventually worked their way up to include handjobs.

He knows Naruto doesn’t have any reservations about the physicality of it, not after being smothered in his sleep on too regular a basis, having woken up enough times nearly squished by Naruto plastered against him, his own self-professed blanket snoring too loudly in his ear. The penchant for contact, Naruto’s tendency to invite himself into his personal space, that hasn’t changed between them.

Yet the jump from having casual sex, to having an actual relationship, his first relationship—sex is something he can do.

It’s something that comes easily, doesn’t make him second-guess himself, doesn’t make him feel so very out of place every time Naruto does the simplest thing, so many times all these little things that just seem to come effortlessly for Naruto, but seem to always leave Sasuke stumbling, the way Naruto looks at him sometimes that leaves him wandering what it is in him someone like Naruto could possibly see.

Of course, he misses having other types of sex. Compared to how often he used to have sex, how much he likes being touched, masturbating can only take him so far, and he can’t say it wouldn’t be nice to be able to do more, but he wants Naruto to be comfortable.

He doesn’t mind waiting for Naruto to take the initiative, doesn’t mind going along with whatever pace Naruto sets, because he doesn’t want Naruto to put pressure on himself to be someone he’s not.

The things they haven’t tried yet, he knows Naruto isn’t necessarily opposed to them. As easy-going as Naruto is most of the time, he’s always been serious during those conversations they talk about sex, and while he was a little hesitant initially, eventually, he began to ask more questions, about the mechanics of it, what was typically expected; unsurprisingly, though, most of what he knew was based on broad assumptions about how sex was supposed to work between two guys.

The relationship side of things, after Sasuke kissed him, Naruto didn’t seem to think twice about it, and really, there isn’t that much of a difference because most of what they do now is what they were already doing before.

Yet for all the shameless, ridiculously corny things Naruto likes to say, while looking into his eyes all those senseless declarations Naruto likes to make, it’s a little amazing to see such a normally brash and straightforward guy get so flustered over something like sex.

But it’s also one of those things on a growing list of too many, more and more he doesn’t mean to find so endearing.

One of those things that’s also become a way to get back at Naruto for being such an embarrassing idiot, because he knows Naruto says all those ridiculously corny things to embarrass him on purpose, so, when Naruto was comfortable enough to start talking about different positions, said he wanted to know what kinds of things he thought about doing, Sasuke wasn’t going to deny himself the opportunity for retaliation.

“You know,” Naruto said, “if there’s something you really like to do.”

“Something I want to do to you?”

“Yeah, I mean, just to get an idea.”

“What I want to do to you, Naruto…” Sasuke reached for the front of Naruto’s shirt, with a loose hold gathering the material in his fist, gently tugging Naruto closer toward him. “I want to hold you down.”

“Y-yeah?”

“I want to know how it feels,” he whispered, beneath Naruto’s gaze drawn to his mouth, breathed soft over Naruto’s lips, close enough to brush but not quite enough to kiss.“…when I’m on top of you, the way you’d feel beneath me, what it’d feel like, Naruto, to hold you down while I’m taking you inside me—that’s what I want to do.”

Naruto shot off like a light, his entire face burned red, already scrambling to the other side of the couch, nearly falling face first toward the floor in his rush to get away. “Sasuke, you—I can’t believe you just—”

“You asked me what I thought about doing. And I told you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I did, but someone like you shouldn’t be so casual about saying something like that so freely.”

Sasuke gave an amused snort, trying to curb his laughter with a smile. “Naruto, are you—are you really that embarrassed?” 

“You are _not_ the kind of guy I expected to hear saying those kinds of things.”

“That I want to hold you down?”

“No, Sasuke— _no_. But yes, that, too.”

“Or is it because you’re actually thinking about me riding you, and the way I’d feel when you’re being taken inside me?”

Naruto made a pained sort of choking noise, a strange mix between a dying whimper and a mangled wail, on the verge of keeling over in embarrassment, trying to hide behind his hands, trying—failing—to cover the blush that travelled all the way to his ears.“Why do you keep saying such careless things so carelessly?”

Sasuke just grinned, extending his leg and pressing the heel of a sock-clad foot against Naruto’s thigh. “So what, you’re hard. We’re both guys. It’s not like I mind.”

Naruto dropped his arms to reveal a pointed glare. “There was _nothing_ about this in our permanent roommate clause.” He grabbed Sasuke’s ankle, making a show of moving Sasuke’s heel away from his lap, instead letting Sasuke’s leg rest over his knee. “You did not prepare me for this side of you.”

“It’s no secret you get erections, Naruto. I’ve woken up with you poking me from behind often enough. And if that’s the kind of thing you like to think about…”

Eyes slightly narrowed, Naruto held up his chin, despite his peevish sniff hands absently massaging Sasuke’s lower leg. “…somehow, I feel I was a much purer person before I met you.”

Naruto’s overdramatic tendencies and baseless claims of so-called purity aside, by no means is Naruto new to sex. Although he’s never tried anal, it’s not as if he hasn’t had penetrative sex before, like he hasn’t already done a lot of things before, during the relationships he had in the past.

However, by Naruto’s own admission, in his past relationships he’s often been labelled too nice a guy, unexpectedly the too considerate type, because his personality can come across a little strong, which, up to a certain point, Sasuke could see; Naruto tries too hard to set himself apart, tries to make the biggest impression by being the loudest one heard, yet as open as he may first appear, there’s still a lot of himself he purposely chooses not to show.

He can’t really say he had any expectations going into a relationship with Naruto, since he didn’t have anything to compare it to. Naruto leans more towards unpredictable, anyway, because Naruto’s just…Naruto. And with sex, there’s no sure way beforehand to know what to expect from someone, but even during sex people can respond differently to the same things, so it’s just something Sasuke’s learned to get a feel for in the moment.

He just doesn’t know what Naruto’s so self-conscious about that he feels the persistent need to hold himself back.

  
Considering how long it took for him to willingly acknowledge the fact he was sexually attracted to Naruto, the kind of sex he’s not having now isn’t exactly a dealbreaker. Plus, Naruto’s never been sexually active with another guy before him, so a lot of it really is new to Naruto, and he’s not going to begrudge him for that.

Although sometimes, even when it’s mostly just kissing and touching, right before Naruto starts to really get into it, pushing him down and pressing against him, he’ll pull himself back. As to why, the most Naruto will tell him is that he doesn’t want to get too carried away.

Beyond that, the reason for Naruto’s inhibitions, whether it’s nerves or what, he hasn’t tried to pry. And he won’t. But he’ll listen when Naruto wants to talk about it.

_“I mean, that’s just what it is. I don’t know how else to put it.”_

_“I won’t be able to help you unless you tell me.”_

_“But the problem isn’t that I don’t want to touch you. The problem is that I_ do _want to touch you. Really. The things I think about doing to you, Sasuke, I think a lot about doing the things I want to do to you, because there’re a lot of things I want to do.”_

_“I’m not seeing how this is a problem.”_

_“…it’s not fair that it’s always the quiet ones. Why does it always have to be the quiet ones?”_

_“If you want to touch me, Naruto, I’m not the one holding you back.”_

_“That’s not really helping me.”_

_“I keep telling you. It’s fine. I don’t expect you to be a certain way. Whatever you’re comfortable starting with, we can do what you want.”_

(The within reason was already implied, heavily implied, and certainly not carte blanche to get carried away, but it won’t be until later on, that Sasuke will truly appreciate the forewarning for what it actually was, because so easy, so very easy will it be to get caught up in Naruto, to get carried away right alongside him, and so very quickly will Sasuke learn that Naruto’s somehow the bashful kind of closet pervert who manages to get turned on by the most seemingly innocuous things.)

Despite how Naruto portrays the idea of him getting too carried away, it’s nowhere near as bad as he seems to think it is. As abrasive as Naruto normally may come across sometimes, from those few times during sex when Naruto wasn’t holding back as much, Sasuke wouldn’t even necessarily say that he’s rough.

If Naruto were into it, though, he wouldn’t mind. He’s not a stranger to that side of things. Guys who preferred it, or thought sex between guys automatically equated to being rough, he’s been with those types before, whenever he was in the mood.

But Naruto, he’s…rather than rough, Naruto’s _intense_.

That’s the only way to describe it.

The same infuriating idiotwho used to call him Himiko-bastard, the presumptuous dumbass who actually tried to demand that Sasuke accept his apology for breaking the shinai he still kept referring to as a shaman stick, the painfully senseless guy who kept trying to apologise for that mortifying scene he’d made in Green Hall—through one of those notes they used to exchange insults, in his near illegible scribble the same Naruto who once suggested Sasuke should take calligraphy because he thought Sasuke’s handwriting was really nice.

Since that very first day Sasuke couldn’t stand him, Naruto’s always been intense. It’s apparent in the way he carries himself, how he acts, how he speaks, nearly everything about him that’s unmistakably Naruto.

  
Sometimes, it can be a careful intensity, when Naruto forgets to be impatient, when blue eyes darken, make Sasuke the sole focus of an idle fascination, an unexpected kind of discernment he’s still not used to, those moments not so few and far in between where he’s caught Naruto simply staring.

Rarely has it come close to that almost visceral intensity from the first time they had sex.

It’s the side of Naruto that doesn’t come out often, the one he seems self-conscious about, at odds with the part of himself he continues to hold back because he’s worried about getting too carried away.

And he can admit that side of Naruto is still a little overwhelming, although it’s definitely nothing he’s going to complain about. Naruto’s an overwhelming guy most of the time, anyway, and that side of him is simply a more acute version of the same kind of intensity that’s already part who he is.

Yet when Naruto doesn’t hold back, it’s not that he loses himself completely in the moment. The careful intensity is still there, but there’s also this heightened sense of awareness, how he moves with his body, the way he somehow responds to seemingly every little thing Sasuke does.

But then he’d stop, closing his eyes and dropping his head, shoulders bunched, forcing out breaths through clenched teeth, forcing himself still.

That side of Naruto, he could probably goad it out of him if he tried.

He already knows how to push Naruto. Although it’s mostly been unintentional, without having to say much, he’s gotten Naruto to do not so few things. When it comes to sex, he’s already started to pick up on what Naruto likes, noticed certain things he does that Naruto’s more sensitive to, and the places where Naruto tends to touch him most, how Naruto responds to the way he moves his body, when Naruto’s pressed up against him the way he’s learned to move with Naruto.

Despite Naruto’s uncertainty, there’s still this desire to provoke that side of him.

That terse restraint, the visible strain that takes hold of Naruto’s entire body, at the simplest touch can make his breath shudder, at even softer the touch mark along his skin shivers, if Sasuke slowly draws his hands down the back of Naruto’s shoulders, the way Naruto tenses, pressing down with his knuckles digging further into the sheets, as Naruto’s muscles flex and pull taut traced beneath the tips of his fingers, and if Sasuke starts to raise his hips, slowly lifts himself closer stopping short of brushing against him, the way Naruto seems to just _tremble_ —he wants to break it.

Having that kind of sway over Naruto, knowing how much Naruto can be affected by him, he wants it—he wants that side of Naruto, wants to push and keep pushing until it’s his, wants to incite Naruto as much as he wants to deny him, gradually allow him back closer, far enough keep himself only just out of reach, allow Naruto just close enough so he can bring Naruto to his _knees_.

But it’s still part of wanting Naruto to be comfortable, in the sense he doesn’t like to see Naruto beating himself up over it, because that side of Naruto is still part of who he is, and the things Naruto thinks about doing to him, really, he wants to know about those, too.

Until that happens, though, for now, Sasuke won’t try to provoke that side of him.

For now, he’s just trying to resist the temptation to grab the nearest pillow so he can suffocate Naruto with it.

“Because you look like you’re going to eat me alive.”

“I look like I’m going to eat you alive.”

“You look like you’re going to eat me alive.”

There’s the slightest twitch to Sasuke’s left eye.

“Not that I’m saying it’d be the worst way to go, but…”

“I like having sex.”

“…I think I’m starting to get that now.”

“And I like having sex with you.”

“Which is, uh…that’s really, um…” Naruto starts to squirm a little beneath Sasuke’s plain stare. “It’s just, usually, before, you weren’t the kind of guy to be so…”

“We weren’t having sex before.”

“…n-no.”

“And since this is something you asked me to do, Naruto, I don’t mind doing it for you.”

“This is how I’m going to die, isn’t it? You really are going to eat me ali—”

“Were you always this shy about sex?”

Sasuke turns his gaze to Naruto’s lap, to the front of grey and red boxer briefs, where earlier Naruto placed his hands in a vain attempt to cover the erection Sasuke had already seen.

“ _Don’t look at it._ ”

Sasuke blinks.

“Being around you makes me think of very unpure things, okay.”

“Meaning, you’re hard. The thought of me going down on you gets you hard.”

“ _Yes,_ ” Naruto hisses, by the sheer force of his glare alone seemingly trying to will Sasuke to look anywhere else other than his lap.

“Yet after you kept trying to convince me you were ready to try oral, when I finally agree to do it,” Sasuke says, giving Naruto an odd look, “you don’t want me to?”

“Jeeze, when you put it like that…” Naruto’s cheeks tinge red, and he turns his head to the side, not quite sulking.

“It’s a simple yes or no, Naruto.” Sasuke reaches over the side of the bed, placing the unopened condom in his hand on top of a small, white nightstand. “This isn’t the first time I’ve offered to give oral, but when guys said yes, they usually weren’t so quick to close their legs.”

“Oh, my—” The pinched expression that comes over Naruto’s face looks especially strained. “Can you please, _please_ , not talk about you going down on other guys in front of me?”

“Either you want to do it or not. And if not wanting to do it means you’re not ready to try something yet, you’re not ready. That’s fine, too. Even for me, despite having had sex with guys before, it still took time to get used to idea of wanting to have sex with you.”

“…again, that’s really, really not the kind of thing I need to hear right now.”

“My point is, you’re being stupid over sex. It’s just sex, Naruto. Stop trying to make it into a problem it doesn’t have to be.”

“And what makes you think I have a problem with it?”

Despite what outward appearances may suggest, Naruto’s actually a pretty intelligent guy, without having to be the smartest person in the room, yet there’s something remarkable to be said for Naruto’s particular brand of _especially stupid_ , for Naruto having both developed and mastered so many varying levels of _idiot_ , from the explicably simple-minded, to the astonishingly tactless, all the way to the most perplexing and incredibly inane.

The fact Naruto actually had to nerve to even ask what made Sasuke think he had a problem with being given oral, that falls somewhere a little bit further to the far right of in between.

“Because you keep _closing your legs,_ Naruto—that’s why I didn’t bother opening the condom, because you keep _closing your legs_.

“I haven’t even touched you, much lesstried to put a condom on you, and yet every time I’ve tried toget closer, you keep closing your legs—what part of the fact that you keep _closing your legs_ is supposed to make me think you don’t have a problem with me going down on you?”

“I can’t help it if I’m nervous, all right,” Naruto huffs, as if he has the right to look so offended, crossing his arms with one hand resting at his hip, placing his other hand over his shoulder, holding himself like he’s somehow the pinnacle of virtue. “Someone like you taking advantage of my inexperience, putting my chastity at stake.”

The irritable twitch returns to Sasuke’s left eye, alongside the increasingly tempting temptation to suffocate Naruto. But he doesn’t need to waste time grabbing a pillow.

He’ll just go straight for Naruto’s neck instead.

“You’re acting like no one’s ever gone down on you before.”

“Girls, yeah, but those times weren’t the same as…” Naruto pauses, as he begins to lower his arms eyes growing wide when it dawns on him what he said. “I mean, wait, Sasuke—that didn’t come out right. That wasn’t what I meant to—”

“It’s fine.” Sasuke sits back with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. He folds his legs beneath him, laying both arms over his lap. “You don’t have to force yourself for my sake.

“I already told you. If you’re not ready to try certain things, it’s not a big deal. I’ve never had a problem waiting for you. And I’m not going to push you into something you’re clearly not comfortable with.”

With another sigh, he lowers his gaze, closing his eyes. 

He’s not really upset, a little frustrated maybe, but not because of sex. It’s the resurfacing of all those lingering, self-imposed doubts, that whatever this thing is between them, there’ll eventually come a day Naruto will remember how to let him go.

Even with how far they’ve come in their relationship now, despite all those senseless things Naruto still likes to say, it hasn’t quite disappeared, this so very daunting, seemingly impossible notion that Naruto won’t always be there, but…

“…just don’t do that to me, Naruto. Don’t keep asking me to do these kinds of things, when you know you’re still not comfortable with it, and then change your mind about wanting me to do anything for you at all just because I’m a gu—”

Suddenly, the world begins to tilt, and he feels himself falling, opens his eyes to find himself caught in Naruto’s arms.

When his back hits the bed, a hand grabs him by the chin, squeezing his cheeks to coax his mouth open, and Naruto’s already there on top of him, canting his head to cover Sasuke’s mouth with his own, breathing in Sasuke’s shaky exhale and trying to swallow him whole.

There’s a hand that reaches underneath him, slides down to grip the back of his thigh and pushes his leg open, and he feels his lower body being lifted, brought closer Naruto’s, before Naruto thrusts down against him, holding him against the bed, Naruto still kneading his cheeks and kissing him, pressing further into him with the sharp sway of his hips.

And then suddenly, Naruto’s weight is no longer on top of him, immediately pulled away from him, and Sasuke blinks.

“…why’d you stop?”

He licks his lips, peers up at Naruto still bent over him, Naruto’s hands planted on either side of him, but Naruto won’t look at him, head bowed, hair shadowing his eyes from view.

“Because I don’t want you to think I'm…”

“Naruto?”

“…it’s just a lot, you know. And I don’t know what to do with it sometimes, when I’m around you, these urges I get, to just…”

Naruto swallows, lightly shaking his head.

“It’s kind of funny that, uh, for the longest time, I didn’t think you could ever like me back. And then I really didn’t want to mess with what we already had. As close as we already were before, I didn’t want to lose that.

“Some of the guys, Kiba was always the worst, but the way even Kenji liked to rag on me—” Naruto starts to laugh a little, a low sort of chuckle, and yet somehow it’s an unfamiliar sound, the way it makes someone like him seem so small.“They all used to give me so much shit about how much I liked you, about how much I somehow couldn’t seem to just tell you.

“So, I like being close to you, being able to be with you like this, that you even let me do these kinds of things with you.”

Naruto’s mouth forms the traces of a smile that already begins to falter halfway through.

“And I know how comfortable you are with sex, that you really do like it. But whenever we talk about it, it’s always about the things you can do for me.

“I get that you’re trying to make me comfortable, because it’s still new to me, except it feels like I’m making you do everything. And I want to be able to do things for you, too.

“But then I’m still afraid I’m going to mess up, because the way it feels sometimes, how much it hurts to be this close you, how empty it still makes me feel when I just _look_ at you, even when I know you’re right here in front of me, when the only thing I have to do is reach out just to be able to _touch_ you, sometimes, it never seems like enough.

“I know it’s only been a few months, and a lot of this is new for you, too, but if I ever…if I did anything to make me lose you, Sasuke, I don’t think I…”

Naruto breathes in slowly and breathes out with a heavy sigh. “So, yeah, maybe I am holding back a little when it comes to this side of things, but that’s why I…”

“…tell me what you want to do.”

Naruto blinks, with a nervous sort of surprise finally looking up to meet Sasuke’s eyes. “Is it all right if I just…will you let me touch you?”

“I never said you couldn’t, Naruto.”

“Okay, then, um…what we talked about before, you said whatever I feel comfortable starting with?”

“Yes.”

“But you’ll tell me, though, right? If I do something wrong, or if I do something you don’t like, you’ll let me know?”

“I will.”

Naruto pushes off from the bed, sitting back on his heels with a short exhale. “You always say I’m too touchy-feely, anyway, so…” 

Letting one knee fall open, Sasuke leaves his other leg up, arms bent laid out at his sides, elbows near parallel to his shoulders, palms raised, fingers lax, watching Naruto lean down towards him.

He breathes in softly at Naruto’s hands placed over his hips, closes his eyes with a softer exhale at the careful pressure against his sides, Naruto’s hands sliding against his shirt, pushing up slowly, wandering across his chest, fingers already moved to grab and squeeze at his waist.

He raises his arms above his head. As Naruto continues further down, he drags his teeth over his bottom lip, as Naruto’s hands trails path curving down between his legs, starts to push back with a slight motion of his hips, lifting from the base of his spine with the small arch of his back, into the small rise of his chest, pushing forward from his stomach to roll into his hips, meeting the hands running along the inside of his upper thighs.

Naruto stills with a prolonged inhale, releasing a breath that comes out a little uneven. “Do you mind if…”

There’s a gentle nudge against his side, a hand prodding from underneath his back, and Sasuke lets himself relax, opening his eyes to see Naruto watching him closely. “You want me to turn around?”

“Yeah, like…” Naruto climbs off from over Sasuke, sitting back on his heels to give him room, as Sasuke begins to shift and push up from his hands. “Like that, just…”

Arms reach around Sasuke, while he’s still turned on his knees, and he lets himself be pulled back, brought between Naruto’s legs, held against Naruto’s bare chest, as Naruto begins to stand on his knees, lifting Sasuke to stand with him.

Naruto widens his stance, aligning him nearly flush against Sasuke from behind. His left hand trails up Sasuke’s chest, fingers splayed following up the column of Sasuke’s throat, moving to cup Sasuke’s chin, carefully squeezing, kneading again, before he covers Sasuke’s mouth with his hand.

“It’s not that you’re a guy, ”he murmurs, thumb stroking Sasuke’s cheek, his right hand slipped from beneath Sasuke’s arm, slipping beneath Sasuke’s shirt, tugging at the wide elastic band sitting at Sasuke’s hips.

“Really, it’s not.”

He only pushes forward a little, makes sure to keep the front of his legs touching the back of Sasuke’s thighs, barely even pulls away with the slightest movement of his hips. His left hand continues to trail lower, sliding down over the front of Sasuke’s briefs, and he gives a measured thrust, a tight, controlled motion drawn out slow from the small, fluid arc he creates with his hips.

“…not in the way you think.”

A small gasp catches in Sasuke’s throat, at Naruto’s hand rubbing against him, softly gripping him through the material of his briefs, Naruto for a moment still against him, still pressing into him from behind, and Sasuke closes his eyes, breathing out into Naruto’s other hand held firm over his mouth.

“Because I really like touching you. Being able to feel you like this…”

Slowly, Naruto starts to rock into him, slides his hand back over Sasuke with each deliberate thrust, reaching further down with fingers to slide beneath him, when Sasuke starts to move with him, hand already slipping in and out from between Sasuke’s thighs.

“Even doing this feels good, you know.”Naruto starts to squeeze him, carefully flexing then relaxing his fingers, hand curving downward, as he continues to thrust against Sasuke, his fingers again slipped back down underneath him.

Sasuke reaches his right arm across his chest, holding on to his side, reaching out with his left hand to hold on to Naruto’s right wrist, shuddering against him as Naruto begins to move faster ,Naruto drawing his hips back further, trying to press against him deeper, breathing hard against the back of his neck.

Sasuke holds on to him tighter, gasps muffled by the hand still covering his mouth, as he rolls back with his hips, meeting Naruto’s thrusts from behind, being thrust against Naruto’s left hand, starts to sway in small circles pushing up from Naruto’s lap and rubbing himself against Naruto’s palm.

Naruto jerks forward with a grunt, as Sasuke continues to move against him, holding himself still. His hand over Sasuke’s face lowers to grab Sasuke’s chin, thumb rubbing at the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, marking wet trail across Sasuke’s bottom lip.

Sasuke reaches with both hands for Naruto’s right wrist, guiding Naruto’s arm around him, holding Naruto’s hand at his waist. With his left hand, he reaches behind him, steadying himself with fingers clutching at Naruto’s side, trying to bring Naruto closer, Naruto still hard pressed against up him but not moving behind him.

He starts to isolate his hips, pressing himself down at an angle against Naruto’s lap, creating smaller and smaller motions raising himself back up, letting out a soft moan as he slowly starts to pull away, when he hears a loud hiss behind him, as he pushes back into Naruto with wider rolls of his hips, arching his back a little deeper, sliding himself up slow, coming down Naruto even slower, barely brushing against him.

With a low groan, Naruto starts to rock into him, breathing through clenched teeth. The hand holding Sasuke’s chin tilts back his head, exposing his neck to Naruto’s breath hot against his skin, Naruto’s nose brushed below his ear, and Sasuke leans back into Naruto’s chest, closing his eyes and resting his head against Naruto’s shoulder.

Naruto starts to slow down with his thrusts, just pressing carefully into Sasuke, chest moving against Sasuke’s back as he inhales deep, simply breathing Sasuke in.

“Like this, Sasuke, just…”

Sasuke lets go of Naruto’s waist, placing his hands on top of the arm tightening around him. He sighs at the mouth gently pressed against his neck, full lips leaving soft kisses along his skin.

Slowly, Naruto lowers his hand from Sasuke’s chin, pulling his arm from around Sasuke and reaching with both hands to grab Sasuke’s waist, drawing his hips back, and then bringing Sasuke towards him.

Sasuke drops his head forward, unable to hold back a soft cry when Naruto starts thrusting against him, at the hands squeezing his waist, holding him still while Naruto pushes against him.

He reaches behind him, reaching underneath Naruto’s arms trying to hold on to Naruto’s hips, as Naruto starts to thrust harder into him, breath hitched during each series of quick thrusts, and each time Naruto slows, rubbing himself over Sasuke, then repositioning his hips, lining himself directly behind Sasuke, before gradually starting to roll forward into him again.

“Just letting me do this to you...”

Naruto’s hands steal beneath Sasuke’s shirt, roaming over Sasuke’s stomach, travelling back down past Sasuke’s hips, following the inward curve leading down between Sasuke’s legs, and Naruto spreads his palms, hands framing the inside of Sasuke’s upper thighs, fingers pushing up against the seams of Sasuke’s briefs.

Sasuke throws his head back when Naruto starts to pick up again, Naruto’s hands gripping his thighs, with soft gasps coming out faster as he’s being pulled back towards each of Naruto’s thrusts.

Naruto keeps going, doesn’t stop, right hand still gripping Sasuke’s thigh, while with his left he grabs the corner of the oversized pillow hanging off the edge of the bed, tossing the pillow in front of them, pushing it farther up the bed, and then he’s using his body to push Sasuke forward, moulding himself against Sasuke’s back, pushing him down all the way over.

Sasuke catches himself with his elbows, landing on top of the pillow that cushions his chest, Naruto leaned over him, bracing himself with his left arm outstretched, hand planted above Sasuke’s shoulder, still on his knees thrusting against him, straddling Sasuke close from behind.

Right arm still beneath Sasuke, Naruto’s already reaching down between Sasuke’s legs, curving his hand to slide underneath him, taking Sasuke’s weight against his palm, using his hand to prop Sasuke’s hips.

Sasuke clutches the top of the pillow with both hands, elbows held close to his sides, shoulders bent forward close to his arms, as he starts to thrust against Naruto’s hand, head turned, pressing his cheek into the pillow at Naruto thrusting straight down into him, stuttering through sharp cries at Naruto’s fingers rubbing in circles against him, Naruto stroking and squeezing through Sasuke’s briefs before his hand goes still, when Naruto starts rolling into him from behind, pushing up with downward thrusts, Sasuke being pushed further up the bed, further and further into Naruto’s hand.

Soft gasps come out higher, and Sasuke turns his other cheek into the pillow, opening his right leg, leaving his knee slightly bent to the side, giving himself more room as he rolls his hips against the curve of Naruto’s palm, into Naruto’s fingers again rubbing against him, pressing up from underneath him, moving from side to side between the inside of his thighs, before Naruto pulls his hand away, sliding his arm from beneath Sasuke.

But he’s already sitting up, steadying himself over Sasuke with both hands spread out in front of the pillow, changing the angle of his thrusts, and Sasuke fights back another sharp cry, lifting his head and pushing back into Naruto, keeping his lips pressed together, rocking himself against the bed, Naruto panting above him, right next to his ear, driving down against him deeper each time Sasuke moves to meet his thrusts, pushing Sasuke right back up against the bed, and Sasuke lowers his cheek back into the pillow, fingers still clutching, still holding on, mouth fallen open with soft cries near whispers of Naruto’s name, as Naruto starts to speed up his thrusts, picking up harder, sharper, faster and faster—until Sasuke goes still beneath him, holding his hips down against the bed, tensing with a series of shaky breaths that makes Naruto stop with a single hard thrust.

And he just holds Sasuke there, pressing further down against him with a gruff moan, breathing in through his teeth, breathing out with a shudder, releasing a another low moan when he starts to ease up.

Sasuke begins to loosen his grip on the pillow, laying his elbows out to the side. He lets himself relax, letting out a quiet sigh, as Naruto starts to move against him again, with an unhurried sway of his hips, tiny little motions that gradually become larger, Naruto spreading himself over him, pressing just enough into him to move Sasuke with his hips.

Bringing his right leg in closer, Sasuke slowly unbends his knee, leaving his feet apart, drawing out another quiet sigh, as Naruto begins to press into him a little more, moving back into Naruto with the slightest roll of his hips, keeping Naruto’s easy pace, from his lower back creating a small arc pushing up to meet Naruto’s hips mid-sway.

And then Naruto’s pushing off from his hands, raising himself off Sasuke and shifting farther back on the bed, standing up on his knees, widening his stance, legs on either side of Sasuke’s hips. He starts to lean forward again, sliding his hands along Sasuke’s arms, over Sasuke’s wrists, as he continues to bring himself lower, covering the back of Sasuke’s hands with his own.

“Just being able to be close to you like this, Sasuke…”

Naruto’s hands slide back down Sasuke’s arms, holding them down to the pillow.

“…if I just want to touch you.”

He brushes his hips over the small of Sasuke’s back, long, smooth thrusts gradually pushing up the edge of Sasuke’s shirt, gradually revealing more of Sasuke’s skin. Slowly, he starts to work his way down, slowly tracing a line eventually leading him to the top of Sasuke’s thighs.

“If I just want to feel you...”

He takes his time making his way back up, stopping below the wide band of Sasuke’s briefs. Shifting back, he lifts his hips, lowers them as he moves forward, barely skimming the thin material covering Sasuke’s skin.

He keeps the movements small, draws them out a little longer, shallow thrusts that make Sasuke move against the bed, and he ducks his head, breathing against Sasuke’s nape, at Sasuke’s soft inhale lightly pinching Sasuke’s skin between his teeth.

“…can that be okay, too?”


	41. A Fool for Lesser Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"…in what reality was that supposed to be only a little?"_

As a self-professed morning person, Naruto likes morning sex, maybe a little more than he should, but sex first thing after waking up, he really likes that. He likes that a lot. Except Sasuke is anything but a morning person, and doesn’t like getting up early unless it’s for class or work, or the laundry he still has a habit of doing on Saturdays, and even then he gets pretty cranky about it; he’s especially useless those first ten minutes it takes for him to drag himself out of bed, not much more than a blanketed lump that somehow manages to completely disappear every now and then, if Naruto’s not looking too closely at first glance.

So it was definitely a surprise to wake up to a finger absently poking his cheek, dark eyes watching him, Sasuke half-sprawled over his chest, arms crossed, gaze steady the patient kind of expectant, even when Naruto caught Sasuke’s left wrist, to keep Sasuke from poking him, searching hard in the back of his mind, trying to figure out what it was he could’ve possibly done wrong this time, when he hadn’t even had the chance to start the day yet.

Although there was enough light coming through the curtains to softly illuminate Sasuke’s face, a quick glance at his watch told him it was still early. His internal clock usually woke him up around six or so, anyway, and while sometimes he slept in for a little while longer, depending on his schedule for the day, Sasuke would usually still be conked out beside him.

The very fact Sasuke had actually woken up before him, it was for very good reason Naruto was left unequal parts more wary than confused, growing more and more convinced he did do something wrong, because Sasuke was still staring at him, apparently still waiting for him to do something, whatever that was.

“You’re hard,” was all Sasuke said at first, almost like the concept was somehow new to him, like guys their age didn’t still get stiff in the morning, and the simple act of _breathing_ wasn’t more than enough to get an erection—but then the fingers of Sasuke’s free handwere slowlytrailing up Naruto’s inner thigh, Sasuke’s palm lightly pushing up against the bulge beneath Naruto’s blue shorts, and oh, oh, that was when Naruto _got_ it.

Definitely a good way to start the day.

Although maybe his excitement was a little premature, because maybe he sort of did slip in a request for Sasuke to fulfil part of a not so secret fantasy, one Sasuke had berated him for even putting thought to, but while he knows Sasuke isn’t a fan of role play or dirty talk, asking for this isn’t either of those, so he thought it’d be all rightto ask again, at least for today.

Of course, Sasuke agreeing to try it should’ve tipped him off.

ButSasuke willing to surprise him with an early morning invitation for sex?

That, he likes.

Compared to what he’d been expecting, though, when what was originally _that_ became _this_ , not so much.

Which brings him toSasuke lying on his side, one arm propped on the bed, hand supporting the side of his face, looking at Naruto like he seriously couldn’t be more bothered, his other hand alreadyin Naruto’sshorts, before he proceeds to give the most half-assed attempt at a handjob, paired with the most unnecessary commentary, spoken with the most monotonous voice Naruto’s ever heard, even by Sasuke’s standards.

“Oh, yes. The Great Uzumaki Naruto is so great. Uzumaki Naruto is great because he’s the Great Uzumaki Naruto. Yes. Being great is what makes the Great Uzumaki Naruto so great. Ah. Ah. It’s because he’s the Great Uzumaki Naruto that he’s great.”

“…I know this isn’t something you have to do for me, that you’re only agreeing to go along with it because of today,” Naruto mutters, wry, a little insulted by Sasuke’s careless neglect, Sasuke’s hand no longer touching him; between that and this, his poor excuse for an erection is practically nonexistent, just barely hanging on. “But can’t you at least pretend to put some kind of effort into it?”

Just on the verge of rolling his eyes, fingers resting against Naruto’s leg, Sasuke breathes out with an exasperated sigh, like he’s some sort of reluctant martyr, forced to sacrifice his soul for the greater good—better yet, like touching Naruto is an errand he put off to the very last minute, all of a sudden acting like sex is a _chore_.

With that kind of excitement, he’d have better odds getting it back up watching paint dry.

And yet this is the same Sasuke who has no problems shamelessly whispering in his ear things like, _I want to have sex with you_ , or _I want you to touch me_ , something to that effect, because it still catches him off guard sometimes, makes his face burn red from time to time how unapologetically blunt Sasuke is about it, and maybe he really is too easy, if that’s all it takes for him to want to give in.

It especially doesn’t help whenever there’s suddenly friction from the weight on his lap, taking advantage of his surprised stammering, a very much persuasive Sasuke already shifting on top of him, already moving Naruto’s hands to his waist, then holding Naruto’s face, bringing Naruto closer for the real lush kind of drawn-out kisses, bearing down too light on Naruto’s erection, like he’s barely moving his hips at all, each time Naruto tries to push up against him, the slight contact nowhere near enough despite gripping Sasuke tighter, trying to hold him still.

Sure, Sasuke knows how to play him a little too well, knows exactly what to do to string him along, and if that means his brain nearly short-circuits with something as embarrassingly simple as, _I want to feel this, want to feel you,_ murmured just as soft as the way Sasuke likes to call his name _,_ of course he’s not going to say no to any of it, not while he’s still young.

Any other time, Sasuke wouldn’t hesitate to put his hands on him. Any other time, Sasuke would’ve already climbed over him, laid his arms out loose around Naruto’s shoulders, not breaking his gaze, with the slow, small sways of his hips alone would’ve been doing his damnedest to make Naruto _keen_.

This time, however, this is just…

“Come here, Naruto.”

Sitting up a little, Sasuke blindly reaches behind him for a pillow, arranging it close to his back. He grabs the front of Naruto’s grey shirt, crushing in his hand the large, round emblem coloured by three evenly spaced rings of red, white, then red, and in the centre filled in with blue, the backdrop to a single white star.

He begins to lower himself on to the bed, making sure he’s comfortable first, spreading his legs a little wider. With a quick tug, he motions Naruto forward, waiting until Naruto’s on his hands and knees hovering over him to release his grip on Naruto’s shirt. Following another exasperated sigh, keeping up with theme of doing things that are entirely unnecessary, he picks up where he left off, all but shoving his hand back down Naruto’s shorts, where somewhere in there he just quit trying altogether, beneath the material of Naruto’s boxer briefs fondling Naruto with the least amount of enthusiasm humanly possible.

And then he clears his throat.

What happens next immediately makes Naruto’s eyes go large. Forget the fact Sasuke isn’t even trying to work him up at this point, because what Sasuke’s doing with his hand, the things he’s not doing with his body, the absolutely bored expression on his face—none of it matches the sounds coming out of his mouth.

Even if he already knew what Sasuke was going to do, there is nothing in this world that could’ve prepared him for the sounds coming out of Sasuke’s mouth.

“Ah, not there, Naruto-sama, I don’t want Naruto-sama to touch me there. Naruto-sama’s XX is so big, already reaching so deep, moving inside me.”

It still sounds like Sasuke, in between surprisingly believable moans just sounds like a slightly higher version of Sasuke’s voice, and yet at the same time it doesn’t, so different from his normal drawl, not even close to what Naruto imagined, nothing like the soft sighs he’s used to, the kinds of quiet noises Sasuke makes he likes to listen to, meant only for him to hear, and there’s almost this sense of disappointment, a sort of stopgap emotion within himself, that completely takes away any appeal this idea once had.

“Touching so much of me at once, Naruto-sama’s XX makes me so hot. So good, Naruto-sama’s XX makes me feel so good, so full throbbing inside me. I don’t want Naruto-sama to hold back. I want Naruto-sama to fill me up because Naruto-sama always feels the best.”

That near sense of disappointment is quick to wear off, though, alongside the novelty of Sasuke’s so-called performance, as Naruto feels a violent tic over his right eye, and what little hope he had for an erection just flopping aimlessly in Sasuke’s hand, being treated to the most half-assed attempt at a hand job, in the sad history of half-assed attempts at handjobs, Sasuke’s gaze just wandering off in the distance, despite his moans steadily getting higher, a lot breathier, too highly convincing without Naruto even having to close his eyes, Sasuke’s cries hitched with the realistic-sounding cracks in his voice and everything.

“No, it’s too good there, Naruto-sama, right there. Naruto-sama’s XX feels too good. So much of Naruto-sama’s XX caressing all of my insides, I want Naruto-sama to come inside me. I need to feel Naruto-sama come inside me. Ah, ah, Naruto-sama, I’m coming with Naruto-sama. I’m coming with—”

A hand covers Sasuke’s mouth, fortunately enough to make him stop. After a moment of silence, Sasuke looks up, too nonchalant for his own good, but Naruto doesn’t say anything when their eyes meet, waiting a few more seconds between them before he decides it’s safe to remove his hand. 

Sasuke gives a soft hum, apparently able to make a seamless transition back to his normal voice. “Too much?”

“ _You think?_ ”

Nothing ever comes easy with Sasuke. He knows this. Very well, he knows this, because Sasuke’s the type of guy who enjoys being difficult for the sake of being difficult, enjoys putting him on just for the hell of it, so if it sounds too good to be true for Sasuke to willingly go along with something, it usually is.

(It doesn’t matter that Naruto is the one who seems to keep forgetting this.)

While Sasuke might not necessarily be loud or straightforward about most things, that’s what also makes him the worst kind of overdramatic, because he’s already the kind of unforgiving guy who holds grudges, and will twist any little thing Naruto’s ever said just to prove a point.

Any worse and Naruto’s XX might as well have fallen off in desolation, just withered up and died a slow, depressing death. It wasn’t even parody. It was just painful. If there was ever a quicker way to shut down that particular fantasy, he can’t think of it, and now he’s quietly mourning his mental stash of teenage pipedreams he still kept in the dusty corner of his mind, inspired by the actual stash Jiraiya had given to him when he turned sixteen.

It’s going to take a while to think of porn in the same way again, not without hearing Sasuke’s voice and remembering the clear disinterest on Sasuke’s face, any and all potential for not so forgotten wish fulfilment wasted, because Sasuke’s just about ruined him for life.

More importantly, for a guy with a normally deep voice, deeper than his at least, to be able to reach that kind of falsetto, more or less performing a scene that really wouldn’t be out of place in some erotic video, right down to the shuddering moans and the trembling in his voice, Sasuke has surprisingly good acting skills. 

A little too good for Naruto’s comfort.

“Have you been faking it this whole time?!”

“Hm?” Hand slipped from Naruto’s shorts, Sasuke drops his arm, paying no attention to Naruto whatsoever. He starts to sit up, folding his legs beneath him, watching Naruto with an inappropriately thoughtless expression. “Faking what?”

“Don’t you try to play cute with me—I’m not going to fall for you trying to play cute with me again. Suddenly turning the situation into an outdated movie reference, being able to fake something like that so easily, is that what you do? Lie back and think of England?”

“Oh, you mean that.” Sasuke blinks, appearing far less concerned about the seriousness of the situation than he should be. “I guess blond is close enough. And with the similarities between your names, both sharing seven syllables, the rhyming’s probably a coincidence, too. Plus, the fact you’re related to a Karin,” he says absently, sparing a glance to Naruto’s t-shirt. “But I think my other character may lean more towards the America type, so…”

“You have been faking it, haven’t you?!”

“Only a little.”

Gobsmacked, as if he’d been slapped, Naruto reels with his head turned to the side, from both the admission itself and the lack of hesitation. His eyes flutter out of sheer astonishment, his mind still in the process of working up the strength to recover from the sudden impact of a direct hit—as if just knowing Sasuke wasn’t already bad enough, as if he hadn’t already lost so, so much of his pride that Sasuke had been chipping away at since day one.

“…in what reality was that supposed to be only a little?”

“In the sense that I’ve done it with other guys before, because that’s what some of them liked to hear. As long as they did what they needed to do to get me off, I never saw it as a big deal. Although there is this one guy, this seriously egoistic guy, who actually wanted me to refer to him with an honorific like sa—”

With a low growl, Naruto tackles Sasuke, pinning Sasuke’s arms to the bed, just a little more on the side of miffed, but there’s no doubt in his mind Sasuke isn’t being serious. Sasuke can’t be, because Naruto knows there is absolutely _no way_ Sasuke would ever go anywhere near that far to appease some guy he was just using to get off.

Not when the struggle to sneak in a simple kiss on the cheek is still real, whenever Naruto puckers his lips in anticipation, only to be immediately shot down for all his troubles, his attempts to be romantic completely ignored, save for the hand he receives to his face, Sasuke’s palm placing a stamp of _denied_ on his forehead.

It’s nothing new, that Sasuke won’t let him get away with a lot of things, never mind acknowledge him as the guy who puts his life on the line on a regular basis, being subjected to Sasuke’s experimental food, reduced to a veritable pincushion from Sasuke pinching him entirely too hard, Sasuke kicking him for no good reason at all, and then there’re still all the names, like idiot, or loser, or dork, orcor—

He’s getting ahead of himself. 

All he did was ask Sasuke to humour him just this once. There was nothing preventing Sasuke from saying no, instead of purposely going overboard, because it’s not like he asked with the intention of making Sasuke feel obligated to do it.

But then no one could bring him down like Sasuke, as fast as Sasuke, so easily just crawl under his skin, with a single look, make him feel sometimes like he’s at the mercy of Sasuke’s whim.

“…it’s still my birthday,” he says, for lack of a better comeback, decidedly not pouting or sulking or whatever Sasuke likes to accuse him of doing, and even if he was, because he’s still not, it’d totally be a good look on him, despite what Sasuke also likes to say.

“It’s still your birthday.” There’s a trace of a knowing smile on Sasuke’s face, dark eyes playful, treading too close to smug, with a pointed glance between them, because he wouldn’t be Sasuke if he didn’t point out the fact that Naruto’s already hard again, and Naruto can only respond with an irritated huff, pressing down a little harder on Sasuke’s arms.

Sasuke’s own already questionable tendencies aside, the way Sasuke goads him, trying to draw out this streak inside of him, maybe, just maybe, Naruto doesn’t mind being teased so much, doesn’t mind that Sasuke likes to make him work for it, because maybe, just maybe, he really does get off on the chase.

Doesn’t mean he has to admit it out loud, though.

“You’re making fun of me.”

Sasuke turns his head to the side, but not out of shyness, lips pressed together that fail to suppress an amused grin he actually has the nerve to try to hide. “…maybe.”

“I don’t know why you like being so mean to me,” Naruto mumbles, releasing Sasuke’s arms. He lets his body fall listless, letting himself be held, as he slinks his arms around Sasuke, hiding his face in the crook of Sasuke’s neck, breathing in the smell of his own sage body wash overpowering the faint scent of Sasuke’s grapefruit shampoo.

Of course Sasuke’s making fun of him, clearly. He doesn’t need the hand currently patting the top of his head to tell him that. It’s only right that he should get back at him, though, so he presses his lips against Sasuke’s neck, blows air soft over Sasuke’s skin, light enough just to tickle, and he smiles at Sasuke’s easy laughter, without any real effort Sasuke trying to get away, twisting a little, bunching his shoulder to shield himself from Naruto’s mouth.

Making Sasuke laugh again, Naruto snorts through a giggle, grinning wide against Sasuke’s skin, thinking of how far Sasuke went with the whole Naruto-sama thing; uncharacteristic as it was, completely mismatched with the bored expression on Sasuke’s face, ultimately, it was still Sasuke mocking him, and in more ways than one.

“But even though you are mean to me, you’re surprisingly really, really good at sounding like you were acting straight out of a por—”

Sasuke grabs Naruto’s cheek, pulling Naruto’s mouth away from his neck, getting Naruto to look at him with a firm shake seemingly trying to dislodge more than just Naruto’s grin. “You’re the one who kept begging me to try it just once. So I did. But the fact you would even ask me to do something like that, Naruto, how do you think I feel?”

When Sasuke lets go of his cheek, Naruto lets out another huff, sheepish more than anything else, and decidedly still not moping. He already feels silly enough for asking Sasuke to do it, although it feels even sillier to try to apologise for it now, because Sasuke would just brush him off, anyway.

Like the times when he used to get really nervous, worried if some of the things he wanted to do really were okay, and Sasuke would just remind him: _If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t let you do it, Naruto._

“It’s still my birthday,” he says again, because it’s something definitely worth repeating, since he still has an entire day left to celebrate, and he’d been really looking forward to being spoiled by Sasuke.

They still have a lot of time before either of them has to be anywhere, and with morning sex still on the table, it’s the kind of rare surprise he wants to take his time to enjoy, because this is how Sasuke likes to spoil him. Nothing flashy, or overly sentimental, just more of the usual things he already does, the kinds of little things Sasuke tends to notice about him, including his very obvious thing for Sasuke keeping his socks on during sex.

(For the record, he likes to think about Sasuke’s legs a lot, a whole lot, because he has a very big thing for Sasuke’s legs, a very big thing for Sasuke, really, but just because he happens to have a very healthy appreciation for Sasuke wearing very specific socks during sex, does not make him a pervert.)

What started out as a protective measure against Sasuke’s freezing cold feet, led to Naruto accidentally discovering how much he was actually into the idea of Sasuke wearing socks during sex; not the ankle socks Sasuke usually prefers, but just plain crew ones(unlike Naruto’s collection made up of bright colours and trendy patterns), as long as they’re dark, although Sasuke has more than a few nice pairs that feel really soft against his skin.

At first, Sasuke gave him a funny look, a searching gaze, probably trying figure out whether he was being serious or not, but now he just teases him for being such a dork, because it’s the kind of oddly specific kink only a dork like him would have—even though Sasuke’s the one who went through the trouble of indulging him on today of all days, topping it off with a loose shirt and boxer briefs, nothing much out of the ordinary from what Sasuke normally goes to sleep in, and maybe that’s why Naruto likes it so much.

But that’s how Sasuke’s always been, likes to take care of him in understated ways, doing small things like this, without words not so apparent things no less meaningful, and Naruto can’t find it within himself to mind, because sometimes that’s all it takes to be enough.

Because it’s the same Sasuke who’ll let him do this, tilting his head back as Naruto’s teeth graze his neck, the way Sasuke shivers when Naruto bites softly at his skin, Sasuke giving him one of those quiet sighs he’s used to, the kinds of hushed sounds he’s already familiar with, and he closes his eyes, follows a fleeting emotion as he hugs Sasuke closer to his chest, breathes through his mouth against Sasuke’s neck, unhurried with short thrusts as he cuts into Sasuke’s soft inhales, goes just a little faster when Sasuke starts to move beneath him, makes his thrusts last just a little bit longer, hanging off the edge of each breath Sasuke tak—

A hand takes Naruto out of the moment, a harsh yank from Sasuke’s fingers just barely refraining from wrenching Naruto’s hair from his scalp.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, that’s too hard—you’re pulling too hard.”

“I was trying to get your attention.”

“Like there aren’t better ways to do that.” Wincing, Naruto lifts his head, turning on Sasuke a well-deserved glare, before Sasuke gives a final, far less demanding pull, loosening his grip then letting go. “I thought we agreed it was my birthday.”

“Yes, but now I’m saying it means I’ll let you do other things.”

The permission in those words gives Naruto pause, has just enough potential to promise a very promising outcome, that he’s willing to take his chances, but he won’t let himself get too excited just yet. Cautiously optimistic, he shifts the majority of his weight off Sasuke, removing his arms from around him, purely for listening purposes, because he needs to sit up on his elbows for this one. 

“Things like…”

“One of those things I don’t usually let you do.”

Really, Sasuke doesn’t let him do a lot of things, whether it has to do with sex or not, but that’s neither here nor there.

_When I feel good, you’ll feel good_ , is what Sasuke told him once, which turned out to be true, very true, because Sasuke knows how to make him feel very good, so Naruto doesn’t necessarily spend a whole lot of time questioning that suspicious line of reasoning.

Still, an offer this vague, especially from someone like Sasuke, and especially after that previous exercise in overkill, he approaches it with a little more thought, since it’s important to clarify these kinds of things. “Which one?”

Sasuke looks away for a moment, like he’s thinking of what to say, but then his hands are gentle reaching for Naruto’s face, fingers trailing along Naruto’s sideburns he still won’t admit to liking so much, and then he starts to whisper real low just exactly what he’s willing to do, what he’s willing to allow Naruto to do, and Naruto’s staring with eyes growing increasingly wide, because this isn’t just one of those things, it’s _that_ thing, something Sasuke’s been particularly stingy about ever since the first time he agreed to do it, so Naruto has to put aside an extra second or two to get over the initial shock.

“Hold on, wait a minute. You’re saying you’ll actually let me—”

“Mm-hm.”

“Even if I get carried away?”

“I already know you’re going to get carried away. You always get carried away,” Sasuke says, not unkind, with the barest hint of a smile that starts to teeter towards fond. “But we also agreed it’s your birthday.”

“That means you already—”

“I thought I’d leave the rest of it up to you.”

“Seriously? No catch this time? You’re actually giving me a choice?”

As open as Sasuke is about sex, considering everything he actually does let Naruto do, this is probably up there with one of the few thing she holds back on the most. Admittedly, Naruto does get carried away, even though he’s embarrassed by his own reasons for getting turned on by something so simple—or rather so depraved, if Sasuke has anything to say about it.

But it’s not like he’s the only one, because Sasuke gets just as swept up in it, fights not to leave himself fully open while allowing Naruto to completely let go, and it ends up between them the very base of their constant push-pull, with Naruto pushing that much harder just to see how much he can make Sasuke give him ,despite heated whispers and fervent touches urging Sasuke for more, that final push Sasuke absolutely refuses to let him have, if only because he _knows_ how much Naruto wants it.

Which isn’t to say he’s complaining, though, far from it. Whenever it does reach that level of intensity, how long they’ve actually been able to last, it still surprises him, because it’s the kind of sex that manages to tire even him out, leaves him feeling boneless, unable to move, every single part of him spent, never mind what they both look like in the aftermath.

“I’m the one who has to deal with the mess at the end, but if you want to call it a choice,” Sasuke says, wiggles a little beneath him, and Naruto hisses, grabbing Sasuke’s wrists and pulling Sasuke’s hands away from his face.

“Well, yeah, I know that, but I’m only asking because last time you still wouldn’t let me—”

There’s a leg thrown around him, a heel digging into his back, spurring him closer, Sasuke doing that thing he really shouldn’t be allowed to do with his hips, totally trying to distract him from the matter at hand, and then Sasuke’s flipping them over.

Unleashing a squeak, Naruto lands on his back, but Sasuke’s already on him, before he has time to think Sasuke’s already kissing him, with his mouth slowly trying to consume him, gently tugging on the waistband of Naruto’s shorts, taking his sweet time easing his hand underneath, and finally, _finally_ —

At the fingers tickling his sides, Sasuke starts to squirm, jerks forward, caught still by the hand sat his waist, before Naruto’s pulling Sasuke down to hold him closer, tightening his arms around him, then suddenly thrusting up hard, making Sasuke jolt with a sharp inhale, at a second hard thrust Sasuke dropping his head above Naruto’s shoulder, breath hitched through a shaky exhale.

Arms planted on either side of Naruto, breathing out softly, Sasuke tries to sit up, as much as he’s able, almost frowning at Naruto’s hands reaching beneath his shirt, settling on his hips. “Weren’t you just complaining about today being your birthday?”

“Only a little, huh?”

This time Sasuke does roll his eyes, but it’s with a sigh that disappears into soft laughter, as he presses his lips against Naruto’s widening grin.

“…you’re so easy, Naruto.”


	42. Give Me What You Don't Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You let me talk you into doing a lot of things. I don't see what makes this time any different."_

This is all Naruto’s fault.

What’s become yet another questionable situation Sasuke’s come to question agreeing to after the fact, like too many of the decisions he’s made whenever he’s around Naruto, because Naruto is _Naruto_ , and especially since the only other good reason he was actually able to come up with is _because_ , clearly, this has to be Naruto’s fault.

It can only be Naruto’s fault.

But why he even agreed to go along with it in the first place, probably against his better judgment why he always seems to indulge Naruto, his only explanation is simply because Naruto asked.

Much of what he ends up doing, the kinds of things Naruto likes to do, in this particular instance a position Naruto suggested they try during sex, honestly, Sasuke really doesn’t mind. Just as he doesn’t mind from time to time letting Naruto get carried away; of course, that doesn’t mean he’ll let Naruto to do whatever he wants, although he’s found sometimes it takes a little more effort on his part to grab Naruto’s attention.

But while he does allow Naruto to get away with a lot of things, things normally no amount of persuasion would ever convince him to try, no matter how many times he’s been on the receiving end of baseless flattery or accused of being too stingy, it’s a lot different when he and Naruto are sitting like this, different than having Naruto lying beneath him, different than having Naruto on top of him, or behind him from the side.

He's never felt uncomfortable about his preferences, because there's no reason to feel apologetic about liking what makes him feel good, but he’s also learned how to take care of himself, learned how to take advantage of the situation to ensure, first and foremost, that he’s able to get off, too. Otherwise, there’d be no point. 

Not to say all the guys he’s been with were inconsiderate, but he’s come across not so few disappointments, short-lived encounters with overbearing guys too caught up in their own sexual gratification, usually the talkers overcompensating for whatever, but especially the ones who were on the more awkward side of being premature, already spent before Sasuke was even undressed.

Either way, there’s a method to how he does things, with his history, the very reason why there are certain things that he’s refused to entertain.

Doing this with Naruto, however, it’s not a position he’s tried before.

At yet, while probably nothing out of ordinary, or anything that most people would consider unconventional, at least compared to the scope of what he hasn’t shied away from, sitting on Naruto like this, with his feet barely touching the floor, having to depend on Naruto to support his weight, having only Naruto to hold on to, it leaves him with a strange sense of vulnerability he hasn’t thought to associate with sex in a long time.

“…I can't believe I let you talk me into doing this.”

“You let me talk you into doing a lot of things. I don't see what makes this time any different.”

“That has nothing to do with anything.”

“It has everything to do with everything,” Naruto throws back, throwing at Sasuke one of those stupid, incredibly boyish grins.

He reaches for Sasuke’s waist, pulling him closer across his lap, at Sasuke’s unimpressed snort reaching with one hand to grab Sasuke by the chin, between one breath and the next grown low, brusque, bringing Sasuke’s face towards him, gaze already turned dark when he moves to cover Sasuke’s mouth with his own. “…you're the one whose legs are too long.”

The kind of infuriatingly cocksure he wouldn’t have tolerated from any other guy, despite so many of Naruto’s individual traits that initially did put him off, ever the exception, somehow, Naruto's apparently the type he never even knew he had.

If they met when they were younger, they probably wouldn’t have gotten along. He highly doubts that wilful side of Naruto wasn’t much more annoying then, stemmed from a raw sort of confidence Naruto’s since had time to grow into, because the things Naruto does are done for a reason, so vehement in the belief of his own convictions, wholly uncompromising in regards to his innate sense of what’s wrong and what’s right— the worst possible kind of obstinate, fundamental to the very nature of who Naruto is, and yet even that itself is belied by having such an outgoing and approachable personality that makes him naturally compelling.

But Naruto likes to tout himself as a simple kind of guy, doesn’t claim to be any kind of altruistic, even in the face of his own borderline knight complex that drives him to do no less than the right thing, for nothing less than the right reasons.

He’s fairly intuitive, too, more so than most people would probably think to give him credit for, since he so often is over-the-top, often does approach situations headfirst, but there’s always been that sort of edge to Naruto, a more shrewd characteristic he’s seldom willing to show around other people, a side to himself that can have a substantial effect on much of what he chooses to do.

It’s what keeps him from being predictable, but it’s also what makes him tend to be surprising in more unexpected ways.

Granted, Naruto's still an idiot, still very much astonishingly remarkable with his extreme lack of tact, in all the ways that prompt Sasuke to repeatedly ask himself why he’s yet to give in to the persistent urge to just strangle him, during all those times it seemed truly fine a line as to whether or not Naruto was feigning that kind of cluelessness.

Most of the time, though, Naruto knows exactly what he’s doing.

Outwardly, it’s not so apparent, beneath the guise of an easygoing smile, just how manipulative Naruto has the potential to be, especially whenever he’s in the middle of one of his more sanctimonious kicks, although it’s something Sasuke’s only come to recognise with the benefit of hindsight.

However, despite his own previous misgivings about Naruto, as annoying and aggravating as Naruto used to be, even then he couldn’t picture him as the type to purposely take advantage of anyone, firmly believes now there’s very little Naruto has done or will ever do without what he perceives as good intentions.

And yet Naruto having those seemingly contradictory qualities, it remains a large part of what he continues to find so provocative about him, time and again unwittingly drawn to the more subtle aspects of Naruto’s sort of brash appeal.

Because he’s known Naruto long enough to know better. He’s known Naruto long enough to understand why Naruto would think to suggest trying this position at all, exactly what Naruto would get out of it, even if Naruto’s still a little self-conscious about giving in to his own sexual impulses.

Among those impulses, right up there with slowly grinding against him from behind, how very much Naruto likes taking his time, even when there are still clothes between them, what he’s discovered really turns Naruto on, is this idea of him getting off.

He noticed that pretty early on. It was hard not to, how intently Naruto would watch him during sex, blatantly stare, resolved to immerse himself in even the smallest little thing Sasuke would respond to, where somewhere along the way Naruto became highly attuned to Sasuke’s body, and Sasuke became acutely aware of Naruto's touch.

Then again, it’s not like Naruto even tried to hide it.

He wouldn’t go as far as to call it a voyeuristic streak, because that’s not quite what it is. Naruto definitely takes an active role, likes to see how far he can push him, how much more he can make Sasuke give him.

It’s sort of developed into Naruto liking the idea of Sasuke getting himself off, playing into that manipulative side of Naruto not so apparent, how readily Naruto will take up the kinds of positions that intentionally play on the way he knows Sasuke will respond to him.

For now, that’s probably the best way to put it, rooted somewhere alongside Naruto’s more apparent proclivity to use his own weight to hold him down, in some shape or form, likes to cover him with his body, at times seemingly everywhere at once, moving from inside him, completely surrounds him, Naruto doing everything in his power to take in all of him.

A lot of it really is just an extension of Naruto’s already incessant need to simply _touch_.

It doesn’t always have to lead up to anything in particular. Most of the time it doesn’t even involve sex.

Sometimes, it’s the ease of errant touches, Naruto leaning shoulder to shoulder beside him, with a teasing grin Naruto poking him on the cheek, falling asleep with Naruto’s limbs carelessly thrown around him, opening his eyes to Naruto’s thumb absently smoothing circles along the inside of his wrist, the start of lazy weekend mornings spent waking up to Naruto’s gentle smile, Naruto reaching for his hand, lacing their fingers together with a softly murmured _hey_.

Other times, it’s Sasuke being pushed to his knees, Naruto pressed up against him from behind, Naruto’s hand travelling down the length of Sasuke’s arm, palm moved to cover the back of his Sasuke’s hand, fingers slipped between Sasuke’s own, squeezing when Sasuke arches into his chest.

Prolonged sessions of foreplay turned a near adulation of his body, careful explorations by fingers that roam with an idle sense of wonder, as if Naruto’s trying to commit to memory every single part of him, seemingly by touch alone determined to count all the ways he should learn to make him come undone—with a hand splayed across Sasuke’s neck, slipped further down the middle of his chest, tracing a path that followed along the inside of Sasuke’s leg, stopped curved around his thigh, Naruto still holding Sasuke tight against him but not moving, Naruto just waiting, against the back of Sasuke’s neck just breathing, already decided not to do anything, until slowly, slowly, Sasuke starts to work himself against him.

“…hey.” Naruto presses his mouth below Sasuke’s chin, lips trailing kisses down the side of Sasuke’s neck.

Arms draped loose around Naruto’s shoulders, Sasuke tilts his head back, moving into Naruto’s hands running over the inside of his legs, sliding underneath them, raising them a little higher to make more space between his thighs, firmly kneading, squeezing.

He follows a downward motion with hips, at Naruto’s low moan, gradually lifting them to roll forward, when Naruto moves to meet him halfway, making another slow, upward thrust inside him, Sasuke breathing with a soft exhale, again pushing down slowly, gradually rolling back from his hips.

“…how come when I touch you here,” Naruto murmurs, “you always—”

From Naruto’s wandering fingers, comes a sharp tingle at the back of Sasuke’s left thigh, the start of a tremor that travels up the length of his spine, makes him jolt forward, makes him gasp suddenly shifting him on top of Naruto, his own erection sliding upright caught between them.

Arms falling to reach around Naruto, he drops his head above Naruto’s shoulder, sways his hips fisting the material of Naruto’s shirt, spreading his legs farther apart trying to bring himself closer, kept steady by the hands brought to his waist, except Naruto’s no longer moving underneath him.

Lips pressed together fail to hold in the crack in his voice, mouth parted when he starts to circle down on Naruto’s erection, hips drawn back with wide, more deliberate motions, while rocking forward trying work himself against the front of Naruto’s shirt.

He balances on the balls of his feet, trying to push up from Naruto’s lap, unable to escape his own hitched breaths as he tries to get away from the hands squeezing his waist, firmly holding him down, hands he know won’t let him fall, but hands that also won’t let him go.

With a sharp inhale, forcing himself to slow down, he allows his body to sag against Naruto, relaxing his fingers clutching at the back of Naruto’s shirt. He rides the rest of it out, sways his hips in smaller circles, dragging his teeth across his bottom lip with a contented sigh, before forcing himself still.

He swallows, breathes in softly, leans back a little into the hands settled at his waist and lifts his head, ignoring Naruto staring at him wide-eyed in surprise, the expression on his face an odd combination of startled and no small amount of awe.

The best he can offer in retort is a quickly waning glare, meagre at best, because altogether his mood is more languid than any real kind of flustered, when he reaches for the braided leather necklace mostly hidden beneath Naruto’s shirt, giving a half-hearted tug to the portion of black chain visible above Naruto’s collar.

Very little embarrasses him when it comes to sex. Although he wasn’t expecting Naruto to suddenly touch him there, his own reaction was simply to follow through with what felt good. He’s begun to notice, though, the effect seems to have become more pronounced now that he’s with Naruto, between doing what normally feels good and feeling good because it’s Naruto doing it to him; in this case, he just can't decide if it has anything to do with the position they’re in, or the fact that it’s Naruto he’s in this position with.

“…Sasuke, you’re…are you really that sensi—”

“Are you really asking me that, Naruto.”

Even taking into account Naruto’s tendency to point out the obvious, on principle alone, a question like that doesn’t deserve a response.

Admittedly, he tends to be more reserved during sex, anyway, but while he’s not in the habit of hiding how sensitive he is, neither does he go out of his way to actively promote it; at this point he’ll argue it’s almost a given, though, something Naruto’s been shown to have figured out by now, because Naruto’s already made it known how funny he thinks it is to tickle him, if only just to see him squirm.

Being sensitive is one thing. Being especially responsive in that one particular spot, however, is something that actually hadn’t come up often, in the past something most guys didn’t notice in the moment, since it could be so easily overlooked, yet this is Naruto, dedicated to prove himself the most exceptionally inopportune kind of attentive—and because he _knows_ Naruto, he already knows it’s only a matter of time until Naruto’s own competitive nature gets the best of him, because there also lies an unspoken dare between them, during sex neither one of them wanting to be the first to give in, so there’s absolutely no chance in hell Naruto is ever going to let something like this go.

“I was just asking a— _ow_ —Sasuke, you bastard! Just because you’re too sensitive, doesn't mean you get to bite me.”

Sasuke snorts. He barely did anything to Naruto’s neck. Probably enough leave to a light impression, but nowhere near hard enough to break skin. Naruto really is just that melodramatic, but right now, Sasuke’s not feeling particularly inclined to care.

He raises his arms to rest over Naruto’s shoulders. Hugging Naruto close ,he holds himself still.

Suddenly, Naruto jerks forward with a choked cry, blond hair brushing against Sasuke’s cheek, with another strangled whine, Naruto dropping his forehead on top of Sasuke’s shoulder, panting through a muffled curse as Sasuke clenches tighter around him, Naruto’s entire body taut, hands clamped at Sasuke’s waist.

Naruto’s legs start to tremble beneath him, as Naruto gives in to a slow, measured thrust, barely pushing up from his hips, barely moving inside him, and Sasuke shivers at the rumble from Naruto’s chest, a long, guttural moan that vibrates through his skin, as he lets his body turn loose, letting his arms hang from around Naruto’s shoulders.

“…a-all right. Okay, I g-got. Got it.”Naruto relaxes his hold on Sasuke, in the few seconds it takes for him to catch his breath, hands gently massaging Sasuke’s sides. “That was...

“…h-here.” Naruto shifts, wrapping one arm around Sasuke, laying his other hand on the armrest of the chair, bracing himself before he starts to get up. “You don’t have to move. I’ll just…”

It takes a bit of somewhat awkward manoeuvring, as Naruto bends his knees forward, and Sasuke feels himself being hoisted up a little, before being lowered the short distance towards the futon already spread out before them, laid down on top of the plush comforter.

He closes his eyes, lets his arms fall above his head, turning his face to the side, chest rising with a soft inhale, knees slightly bent, legs slightly raised with Naruto settled between them, Naruto still inside him.

Although it’s nice that Naruto feels comfortable enough now to initiate sex more often, with his usual, wayward confidence comfortable enough to come to him about wanting to try different kinds of things, as soon as Naruto came home yesterday, from the moment he saw Naruto standing sheepishly in the entryway, setting the chair down, while wearing a far too excitable grin anyone within their right mind would be wary of, before Naruto even had to say a thing, Sasuke immediately read the situation for what it was.

(How easily he’s able to pick up on Naruto’s often nonexistent train of thought, whatever that says about him, he should probably be more worried than he actually is—avoiding completely the fact he doesn’t disagree with Naruto’s assertion that the chair is really nice.)

Again, the idea itself wasn’t anything new, relatively tame in the realm of all things considered, but that wasn’t the problem.

No, the problem was that Naruto came up with it.

_“So? What do you think?”_

_“…you bought a chair. Because you wanted to use it during sex.”_

_“Not just any chair for sex. The_ perfect _chair for sex. I mean, don’t tell me you’d want to use the only good ones we have for something like this. I guess we already use the futon, but somehow, I feel it’s only appropriate to do it at least once while we’re wearing our yukata. To keep up with that whole traditional thing you have going on. Since it’s already summer and everything.”_

_“What does wearing yukata have to do with havi—”_

_“A lot of things, Sasuke—just trust me, when I say it has a lot to do with many things. But with a really nice chair like this, though, considering you’re actually letting me do things this time, I think it’s important to try something a little different for once. You know. So we won’t get into a rut.”_

_“We’ve only been having sex for two months. How do you fall into a rut after only having sex for two months?”_

_“Because the first month doesn’t count, since I’ve been out of practice, and you started with more experience, but don’t think that means I’m going to let you keep getting the one up on me.”_

_“It’s just sex, Naruto. It’s_ sex _. Tell me what kind of sense any of that was supposed to make.”_

_“Sasuke…”_

_“…”_

_“I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that—I just happen to know a guy, all right, so the chair didn’t even cost that much.”_

_“…you’re assuming I’ve already agreed to this.”_

_“I’m not assuming anything. All I’m saying is, and the point we should really be focusing on here, because of the fact we’re both art students, this is part of me being creative, so you should definitely appreciate the creative process for what it is, and the amount of thought that went behind what I put into thinking through it.”_

_“No, Naruto. This is just you being you. There was no thought process behind it.”_

“...is this better?”

Carefully, Naruto begins to pull out, and Sasuke releases a slow breath, opens his eyes, facing Naruto’s arm to the left of his shoulder, Naruto propping himself up with a hand planted on the comforter. He blinks, turning his head, met with the sight of blue eyes peering down at him.

With a grunt, Naruto starts to shift back a little, giving Sasuke room to extend his knees. His other hand reaches for Sasuke’s waist, running along his side, as he repositions himself over Sasuke, sitting on his knees on either side of Sasuke’s legs.

“I didn’t say you did anything wrong.”

“Oh.” Naruto gives him a strange look, cheeks tinged a slight red, hand stilled, curved at Sasuke’s waist. “But you were—”

Sasuke yanks on the collar of Naruto’s shirt, bringing Naruto closer with a hand that frames the side of Naruto’s face, fingers gently trailing Naruto’s sideburns, with a slow rise of his hips, only just brushing against Naruto’s erection, with the barest brush, the near kiss of a soft murmur Sasuke breathes over the slight part of Naruto’s lips.

“…I didn’t say you had to stop, either.”

“…um, right. Y-yeah, I just…” 

Sasuke catches Naruto’s bottom lip between his teeth, gently skimming the sensitive skin. He scoots up a little, raising his knees slightly, lowering his hand from Naruto’s face, supporting himself with his right elbow propped on the comforter.

His other hand’s already reached between them, mindful of the condom still a little slick against his palm, starting at the base of Naruto’s erection, fingers squeezing with firm, measured strokes.

Naruto starts to breathe a little faster, thrusting against Sasuke’s hand. “...give a guy a little warning next time you try to cut off all my circulation down there, okay?”

“I told you,” Sasuke whispers, as he brings Naruto closer between his legs, raising his hips, as he guides the tip of Naruto’s erection inside him.

He watches Naruto shudder, Naruto holding himself back with a visible strain, eyes shut, harsh breaths forced through grit teeth, fingers of one hand digging into Sasuke’s side, in his other hand seized the crumpled material of the comforter being crushed against his palm.

“…if I don’t like something, Naruto, you’ll be the first to know.”

He still doesn’t know why he keeps letting Naruto talk him into doing things, a proven inclination to go along with too many things, simply because Naruto asked him to.

It doesn’t make sense, why he doesn’t mind letting Naruto get away with so much, why Naruto being Naruto should make such a difference, and yet…

He trusts Naruto.

It’s far too late to deny that.

Unequivocally, without question, does he trust Naruto.

But it’s not even remotely close to being a trust issue.

And therein lies the problem.

It really doesn’t seem like that long ago, that day the first time he found himself falling asleep at Naruto’s side, only to wake up, abruptly forced to confront himself with the initial realisation that Naruto was already such a significant part of his life—whether it began subconsciously or not, whatever the case may be, the amount of trust he’d come to place in Naruto, it terrified him.

He knows he’s not the most demonstrative guy, in some respects maybe even a little more emotionally guarded than what’s probably healthy, but he still feels his reasons are reason enough.

As fine as it was then, it seems fine for now, and although he also knows it’s not fair to Naruto, neither is it fair how demanding Naruto's been from the very beginning, so it's only right that it should bother him on some level.

But even then, he can acknowledge it only bothers him to a superficial extent, how much he allows Naruto to get away with, how easily swept away he is by all of it, simply for Naruto being who he is, and yet through none of it, despite the list of exceptions he’s willingly made for Naruto, has he actually been able to bring himself to…

There are things he’s never told anyone else, without a second thought, too often finds himself confiding in Naruto, an increasing number of things he’s shared without Naruto even having to prod.

Like that stupid phase he went through during high school, prone to an especially asinine kind of recklessness at sixteen, when what he’d once foolishly thought a chance encounter with Murakami, led to the first in a lesson in many things.

Even now, given just how impulsive he was, the outlet for his anger sex ultimately did become, he’s honestly still surprised that continued series of bad decisions didn’t land him in worse situations.

It wasn’t necessarily that he was involved with the wrong crowd, though, at least not on the surface, because Murakami was a popular guy, notably intelligent, representing one of the top universities in the country, and ranked among the highest in his graduating class.

When they initially crossed paths, probably the only reason Murakami even bothered to pursue him, Murakami was a student recruiter, a senior at the time; eventually, he’d introduce him to other college guys, ultimately no different than Murakami, guys who weren’t sorely tempted to turn away an angry kid seeking some sort of solace, almost desperate grappling for anything to erase the void Itachi’s departure had left behind—because his resentment at eleven grew into an anger that continued to fuel him at sixteen, still unable to reconcile why the most important person in his life had decided to abandon him.

Those things he can't take back. But he wants to think he’s moved beyond that time. He wants to say he’s finally grown past it, except the way he feels about Naruto, so utterly taken by this one guy, the way Naruto at times can just make him feel so impossibly, hopelessly…

The last thing he wants to do is hurt Naruto.

But he knows it frustrates him sometimes. Even if he doesn't do it intentionally, unable to be Naruto’s kind of straightforward, held back by his own unremitting uncertainties, in between the perpetual non-answers, can't help but read the tired resignation in blue eyes when Naruto doesn't look away in time, stays silent every time Naruto tries to brush it off with a less than convincing smile—but to be so open, when Naruto already makes him feel so incredibly transparent, when it already feels as if Naruto’s taken everything he’s ever had to give, that's just...that's just not who he is.

That's one of the reasons he still doesn't understand it, why it’s so surreal sometimes, that Naruto continues to place so much faith in him, how Naruto can be so wholly convinced any of this is somehow worth it, that nettling doubt always lingering in the back of his mind as to whether or not in the end he truly deserves it.

Yet here Naruto is, despite never before having an interest in guys, despite his own fears and apprehensions, willing to simply place it all aside, just to be with him.

And Sasuke still doesn’t know how to respond to any of it.

But he still wonders, can’t help but think every now and then, amid the senseless declarations, beyond all the shameless grins, where he falls under the reach of that kind of steadfast devotion, the lengths Naruto would actually go for him.

Because every now and then it really does feel as if he could rely on Naruto for anything, simply ask, and Naruto wouldn’t hesitate to give him everything.

Because despite all the things he still can’t bring himself to say, the way Naruto can just make him feels impossibly, hopelessly lost, makes him feel like he’s just waiting to open his eyes, waiting for the day Naruto won’t be there, there’s still a part of him that wants nothing more than to believe Naruto really would travel to the ends of the Earth just to find him.

The way Naruto will still look at him sometimes, too many times during the same kinds of hushed moments they’ve always had between them, whenever Naruto gives him a quiet smile, gets that too bright sheen in his eyes, an unsettling gaze Sasuke can’t turn away from because he’s afraid it would break.

As if he’s Naruto’s entire world, as if Naruto actually believes him to be someone that prec—

It hurts when Naruto starts to ease inside him, nothing unexpected, just stings a little from the initial burn, despite how careful Naruto’s trying to be, as careful as he always tries to be.

Naruto may be forever determined in his attempts to prevent a lot of things, but he can’t always prevent the things that just simply are.

It’s sex.

Like he keeps telling Naruto, it’s just sex.

And that’s all it’s supposed to be.

That’s all he thought it would be, about what he could do, the sheer physicality of it alone that didn’t make him feel so very far out of his depth next to Naruto.

Until there began to blur any prior distinction between having sex and having sex with Naruto—this unwelcome inability to differentiate between being touched and being touched by Naruto, this sudden, inexplicable surge of yearning necessitating a need he doesn’t want.

Intimacy for the sake of being intimate, he’s never had that—he’s never _wanted_ that. The heedless kind of intimacy that inevitably came with sex, that’s all it ever was. There was never a need for something he wasn’t looking for.

This stark intimacy, a frightening sort of closeness, far more difficult to come to terms with, too tentative a thing, too tenuous this notion, this rush of emotion he’s come to associate with Naruto.

He doesn’t want it.

It’d be so much easier if he didn’t want it.

_“I don’t know why you keep trying to drag me into this.”_

_“Because I want you to be a part of it, too.”_

_“It’s your photoblog.”_

_“And I just happen to like using my photoblog to show off your food. It might not always be safe to eat, but you always manage to somehow make it look really, really pretty.”_

_“…I’m leaving.”_

_“Oh, come on, don’t do that—hear me out. You really do have a good eye for presentation. All I have to do is get the right angle, the right lighting. And since you don’t like me taking pictures of you, I just wanted to do something that…”_

_“…you actually named your blog Ramen and Kamaboko. What is there in your mind that could’ve_ possibly _made you think I’d ever want my picture to be even remotely involved with a blog named Ramen and Kamaboko._

_“So, you’re saying that’s a…”_

_“I’m saying it’s not a no.”_

_“…yeah?”_

_“Not if you don’t stop smiling at me like that.”_

_“Okay, yeah, that’s still good. That’s still—here, let me help you put the strap on first, and then I’ll show you how to hold it right.”_

_“I know how to hold a camera, Naruto.”_

_“Uh, no. You_ think _you know how to hold a camera. Plus, it’s not just a camera. This is my baby we’re talking about here.”_

_“That’s the excuse you’re going with. Why you have to stand so close to me.”_

_“Because I need to show you how to do it. It takes a certain finesse to handle these kinds of things, you know.”_

_“A certain finesse.”_

_“Definitely some kind of finesse. That’s why I’m moving your hand like this, and then you can put your other finger right there, so this way it’s more comfortable for you.”_

_“Why does it even matter? I thought you just wanted me to take a picture.”_

_“Well, no, it matters because—what I wanted to show you…the way I see the world through this, Sasuke, that’s the way I can’t help but see you.”_

It still hurts a little when Naruto begins to pull back, when he starts to push forward with another shallow thrust, still gradually easing his way in deeper, this time almost fully inside him.

“It still feels good for you, too, though, right?”

The low timbre of Naruto’s voice comes out a hoarse murmur, as Naruto’s hand grips Sasuke’s side, in blue eyes too palpable a misplaced concern that seems to follow him, but Sasuke doesn't want to think about it anymore.

He doesn’t want to give Naruto a reason to worry about him. 

“Me being inside you like this, you're not...”

He doesn’t want Naruto to think he did anything wrong.

“No, it always feels…”

He lets his fingers wander along Naruto’s arm, wrapping them around Naruto’s bicep, letting out a soft sigh when he starts to rock into Naruto’s thrusts.

Naruto bites at the corner of his lip, moving his hand away from Sasuke, planting it on the comforter, to the right of Sasuke’s shoulder, both arms extended, enclosed on either side of him.

“You can still hold on to me, you know. I’m not, um…I’m not mad about earlier, so I, uh, I don’t mind if you…”

Another time, Sasuke may have given in to the urge to smile, probably would’ve given in to the urge to call Naruto a dork, because to even say something like that at a time like this, it’s such a _Naruto_ thing to do, but he indulges Naruto, anyway, as Naruto sighs into his arms, if nothing else, decides to give in to this.

Naruto drops his head with a grunt, breath stilted, as he slowly begins to pull out, going back in slowly, leaving only a little more than the tip of his erection inside.

He pushes forward with a single thrust, forcing out of Sasuke a sharp gasp, pushing as far as he can go, letting out a loud groan when their hips meet nearly flush.

The bottom of Sasuke’s heel slips across the comforter, as he tries to push up from Naruto using the lower half of his body to hold him down, while he tries to rock into the pressure from suddenly having all of Naruto inside him, trying to get rid of the pressure building from behind his eyes.

Naruto just keeps him there for a moment, waits until Sasuke stops moving. He starts to let up a little, but he doesn’t pull out, stays still for another moment, still pressing down against Sasuke, stiff trying to fight the tension in his muscles making his body shake.

Then slowly, he breathes out, breathes in.

Slowly, he begins to rotate his hips.

There’s a soft cry caught in the back of Sasuke’s throat, a tremor that takes over his body, as Naruto goes into him thoroughly, so very deliberately slowly, Naruto’s mouth hot against his neck, Naruto’s teeth nipping at his skin.

He tries to breathe through shaky gasps, fingers tangled within blond hair, lips trembling when Naruto makes another slow circle of his hips, pressing down on top on him in a continuous motion, without drawing back, drawing out shallow thrusts he holds as long as he can while moving inside him, Naruto whispering against his skin a seemingly endless litany of his own name.

And it’s at this Sasuke refuses, _refuses_ , to open his eyes, because he doesn’t want Naruto to see, wants to keep holding him close, when he feels Naruto shift above him, as Naruto starts to move a little faster, feels Naruto’s hands slipping underneath him, Naruto thrusting harder inside him, and he shudders in the arms wrapped around him, Naruto leaving him with nowhere else to go.

Because this is all Naruto’s fault.

It’s all Naruto’s fault.


	43. Still the One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"How can I make you do anything?"_

“You like?”

“Do you like it?”

“So far, it’s working for me. I don’t think I look too bulky now. Do you think I look too bulky now?”

“You’re not too bulky, Naruto. You don’t have the body type to build that much mass so quickly.”

“I…I don’t think I know what that’s supposed to mean.”

“It’s not supposed to mean anything. You’re the one who’s trying to gain. Where are you now, anyway?”

“Oh, uh, almost two kilos?”

“That’s still good, isn’t it?”

“No, yeah, yeah. It’s good. Especially since it’s only been a few weeks. I guess I just didn’t think it’d be so hard to put on muscle.

“Still, thanks for putting up with me for all of this, helping me plan my meals and stuff.”

“Mm, it’s fine. I finally got you to eat more vegetables. But I don’t think you realise how much you actually move during the day.”

“Eh, I like running too much to cut back. Even on top of Kiba dragging me to spend time with him at the gym. All those squats I do, I do those squats for you, I’ll have you know.”

“How can I make you do anything?”

“I didn’t say you could. I just know that far-off look you get, like those times I caught you appreciating my back, when you don’t realise just how hard you’re actually staring at m—”

“I don’t star—”

“Come on, Sasuke. Feel it.”

“Stop it, Naruto. Let go of my—I am not touching your a—”

“You know you want to.”

“Why are you always such a—”

“See, _see?_ ”

“You’re an idiot.”

“That nice, huh.”

“…it’s nice.”


	44. Near and Far and Always and Everywhere and Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"...are you ever going to let me cut my hair?"_

“I get how much you like it and everything, really—not that I’ll complain about that, because I actually don’t mind—but seriously, what is it _with you_ and my hair?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why won’t you let me cut it?”

“I don’t like it short.”

“You don’t like it—you’ve never even seen it short.”

“You’ve seen pictures of me when I was a kid.”

“Yeah. And? Not my fault if Itachi too nicely made me voluntarily go through those pictures of you he showed me.”

“You’re the one who—”

“Look at me, Sasuke. Do I look like the kind of guy who’d risk his life by saying no to Itachi? I mean, because if I get taken out by your brother, that’d defeat the whole purpose of us being permanent roommates.

“At least with you, I’ve already accepted that one day I might get taken out by your highly questionable cooking.”

“...”

“What?”

“I’ve seen your pictures, too.”

“...oh— _oh_ , oh, okay, let’s not bring that up, all right, because that’s one of those very, extremely minor details that don’t count, since that was way before we even knew each other, and—wait, wait a minute, hold on—just what are you trying to say, huh?”

“I’m not trying to say anything, Naruto. I already told you I’m not letting you cut your hair.”

“...you know, it’s already bad enough you keep wearing my clothes without asking, but I still don’t get how you think you can tell me what I can and can’t do with my own hair— _including the beard._ ”

“You mean your attempt to pull off peach fuzz that will never grow in.”

“...are you ever going to let me cut my hair?”

“No.”

“What the—it’s not even yours.”

“I like it this way.”

“Since when has it been about what you like?”

“It’s always been about what I like.”

“Only because you’re lucky I still like it like this, too. Or at least for now, anyway.”

“For now?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m ready to let go of it yet, either, but if you won’t let me cut it now, then how about after we graduate next year?”

“No.”

“Five years down the line?”

“Still no.”

“Ten years?”

“You’re still asking?”

“Twenty years?”

“...you’re pushing it.”

“What about when it’s grey, when we’re both...would you let me cut it, then?”

“...why should I?”

“So, you’re saying you want to keep it like this for the rest of my life?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Maybe, but since you said you’re never going to let me cut my hair, then that means...”

“...it could mean a lot of things.”

“...yeah?”

“...yeah.”

“Sasuke, I—”

“...”

“...”

“...you always talk too much, Naruto.”


	45. Nothing Else I Can Say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You looked busy."_

They’re pretty, Sasuke can admit.

Dark hair, large dark eyes, in general the type of features that are far from uncommon in Japan, but on the two of them, features that make them a more conventional type of attractive.

Naruto seems to know the two girls from one of his classes, or at least is known by them, enough for them to feel comfortable openly greeting him, confident enough to stop him on the sidewalk, and yet completely disregarding Sasuke’s presence beside him.

It’s not that Sasuke minds not being noticed. Although he’s never really cared much about his looks, he’s had more than his fair share of attention over the years because of them, most of it unwanted, or even unwarranted—too many confessions in high school he refused to accept because those kinds of things could never hold any real meaning. 

Considering his preferences, not being approached in that light, it’s not exactly a loss, but it is annoying, being interrupted on the way to the train station, because he and Naruto have a scheduled appointment to visit the apartment Naruto found in Narita.

Instead, Naruto’s being invited to visit a newly opened theme cafe, right across the convenience store that’s been popular with students from the Hachiouji campus.

The two girls flirting with Naruto, the way they’re standing in front of him, inadvertently keeping Sasuke away, Sasuke doesn’t think they mean any harm by it, but it isn’t the most subtle display—not necessarily overbearing, just obvious enough for someone like Naruto to notice, enough for Naruto to get a little flustered at their compliments, hand raised to scratch the back of his head, smiling with a sheepish laugh to hedge coy attempts to persuade him to accept their invitation.

(Not that they need to add to Naruto’s already overinflated ego.)

It’s not the first time girls have approached Naruto. He knows it probably won’t be the last.

Granted, while he can admit _liking_ Naruto is still a very new concept to him, it isn’t hard to understand Naruto’s appeal.

Despite his own initial efforts to keep Naruto’s persistent attempts to pursue his friendship at bay, Naruto really is a charismatic guy, someone who’s able to smile naturally around others, genuinely friendly, funny, in an endearingly dorky sort of way, someone not necessarily...unattractive.

And it shows. The way the girls are acting now, they’re less forward, making less eye contact, seemingly surprised Naruto’s giving them any attention at all, their cheeks a bright flush against carefully applied makeup, accentuating the fairness of their skin.

He can’t really fault them for that, but he doesn’t stay to watch.

He doesn’t tell Naruto he’s leaving, either.

If Naruto would rather stay here, well...

Honestly, he doesn’t think he’s a complicated person, likes to think it doesn’t take much to appease him, but maybe in some ways he has been spoiled (as his brother likes to claim), in the same ways that Itachi leaving Yamaguchi was able to have such a profound effect on him, for the very same reasons he’s afraid of how much he actually does want Naruto to remain a significant part of his life.

Outside his family, his relationship with Naruto, it’s the closest he’s ever been to anyone, around Naruto, the most comfortable he’s been with himself in a long time. It’s why they’re even going to Narita.

For no sane reason he can think of, he asked if Naruto wanted to share a place together. For no sane reason that could possibly exist, Naruto hadn’t even hesitated, that quick to agree, already convinced it would be a good idea, despite the abruptness of the entire situation, while they were having lunch, Sasuke blurting out the first thing that came to mind, an embarrassing habit he blames entirely on Naruto, because it’s a habit he only picked up after spending so much time around him.

And now they’re looking for a place together.

For the past few weeks, they’ve been looking for a place to share together.

He may be a little more self-conscious in terms of their relationship beyond friendship, if that’s even remotely a possibility, but he and Naruto are friends— _best friends_ , Naruto likes to make known, repeatedly, with Sasuke neither openly confirming nor denying it.

Still, that doesn’t mean Naruto’s obligated to stay by his side all the time. It doesn’t mean he should expect to have so much of Naruto’s attention, much less expect Naruto to be there for so many things in his life. And if Naruto does meet someone, maybe it won’t mean...

Cute and shy seems to be Naruto’s type, anyway, according to what he’s heard about Naruto’s past girlfriends, offhand remarks in conversations every now and then, whenever someone else brings the subject up— that someone usually being Kiba, because he likes to tease Naruto for having such a faulty track record with the more traditionally pretty actress types Naruto seems to go for, likes to joke how much it shows that Naruto’s too much of the concerned boyfriend type, if Naruto happens to mention something about a girl being really cute and shy.

Sasuke’s neither. Never mind the fact he’s a guy.

Despite the noise from the crowd around them, from behind him, he can still make out Naruto’s voice, in between more sheepish laughter, hears Naruto turning down the invitation to the cafe with a hasty apology, claiming he has an extremely important appointment he can’t be late for.

He hears Naruto calling his name, but he doesn’t slow down, continues to weave through the relatively small mass of people trying to beat the afternoon rush, by the time he reaches the light at the corner, Naruto already caught up to him, stopped too close beside him, with no appreciation for Sasuke’s personal space whatsoever.

“Sasuke, you jerk, why’d you try to leave me alone back there?”

“You looked busy.”

“I looked busy? But I wasn’t...” Frowning, Naruto squints at him. “Wait a minute, you’re not...you’re not jealous, are you?”

Sasuke stares at Naruto, decidedly unimpressed, because he’s never even been in a position to be jealous before, and he’s definitely not in a position to be jealous now. “Jealous of what?”

The confusion on Naruto’s face slowly gives way to the most annoying sort of self-satisfied grin.

“Me getting all the attention from those really cute girls—what else?” he says. “Not that I blame them for giving me all the attention, of course.”

“Who said I wanted their attention?”

“Not being able to get enough of all this sexy,” Naruto continues, with his hand, gesturing to himself with an entirely unnecessary flourish, before lowering his arm, shaking his head with an overly dramatic sigh. “Sometimes, it’s even too much for me to handle”

Turning his gaze, Sasuke sighs, all but rolls his eyes, not for the first time wondering how he ever got stuck falling for such a shameless and ridiculously corny guy.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be jealous, Sasuke.”

“I’m not.”

“Really?”

“I’ll show you.”

“Yeah?” Naruto says, leaning closer, placing an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders, in his voice enough of a challenge that brings Sasuke’s gaze back to him, but when Sasuke turns to look, the expression on Naruto’s face catches his breath still, for a passing moment, too short a moment, quiets the traffic, shuts away the oddments of conversations, in this space Naruto’s seemingly created for the two of them—how Naruto can just smile at him, just _smile_ , that incredibly stupid, _stupid_ smile, tugs too tight across his chest, how Naruto can be so careless with such a simple thing, the softer kind of smile he’s not sure Naruto even means to give, all the times he’s almost let himself believe it’s the way Naruto doesn’t look at anyone else.

All the times he’s already wished it’s the way Naruto never looked at him.

The pedestrian sign flashes. 

Someone honks their horn.

Snippets of random conversations begin to filter in, growing louder, as the small crowd around them begins to move.

“Yeah.” Sasuke moves from underneath Naruto’s arm, stepping off the sidewalk and onto the street. “By walking away.”

“Liar.” Naruto laughs, loud and obnoxious, again placing an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders, drawing him inevitably closer, like he always does, pulling Sasuke right back in.

But this time he isn’t so tempted to push himself away. This time, he doesn’t mind so much Naruto standing too close, doesn’t say anything about Naruto causing a scene in public, because it’s just the kind of thing Naruto does, the kind of thing he doesn’t necessarily mind letting Naruto do.

“Admit it.” With his free hand, Naruto pokes Sasuke’s cheek. “You are so totally jealous.”

There’s a slight light upturn at the corner of Sasuke’s mouth.

“But I get it, you know. Who wouldn’t be jealous of the Great Uzumaki Naruto?”

Sasuke snorts, ducking his head to hide a smile that only seems to widen Naruto’s grin. “You’re such a dork.”


	46. So Easy (to Love You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Yes, Naruto. This is exactly the kind of thing couples do."_

_“We already established you think unpure thoughts about Sasuke, but it’s not like that’s the issue here, because, well, clearly, you still haven’t put—”_

_“Oh, my—just...just shut up, Kiba—shut up, and stop talking!”_

_“I doubt that was ever much of an issue. I will say, however, that it’s a point made. Honestly, at this juncture in your relationship, Naruto, as often as you two go out for lunch and dinner—”_

_“And breakfast, too. Sometimes breakfast, too.”_

_“Should it count if they usually stay in?”_

_“Of course it should count, Shikamaru. Plus, Sasuke’s still the only one Naruto will actually let sit on the ridiculously comfortable comfy chair, so, I mean, being subjected to all those cuddle sessions, you know...”_

_“That is true.”_

_“And then we’ve had to witness Naruto’s very, very sad attempts at flirting, now that we know what they are, especially with how often he’ll go out of his way to spend time with Sasuke.”_

_“Which most people would probably refer to as dating.”_

_“Oh, yeah, that’s the word I was looking for._ Dating _.”_

_“We’re not—”_

_“Just go ahead and get it off your chest, Naruto. Because with how obvious you are, the way you act around him, it’s sickening to watch.”_

_“Watching you knowingly continue to place yourself in this kind of predicament, it really is too much trouble.”_

_“I didn’t ask for this. Seriously. I don’t remember asking for any of this.”_

_“Eh, we’re just calling the situation for what it is.”_

_“Calling you out for still making excuses about why you haven’t confessed yet, that is.”_

But, no, despite what Kiba and Shikamaru and everyone else seem to think, there’s no reason for Naruto to confess to anything, because him and Sasuke, the two of them, no—no, they’re not dating.

They’re just...not.

Besides, Sasuke hasn’t said anything about dating, and Naruto likes to think Sasuke’s the kind of guy who’d say something about them dating, considering all the decidedly uncalled-for commentary in the form of opinions no one asked for that he makes about everything else Naruto does.

And just because they spend a lot of time together, doesn’t mean they spend all their time together.

Never mind Shikamaru’s supposed claim that he and Sasuke have somehow perfected the art of living together while living apart.

He doesn’t spend that much time with Sasuke.

Just most of it.

Probably somewhere around eighty percent.

Or something like that.

Maybe even a little more on some days.

“As much as it pains me to agree with Kiba,” Shikamaru teased him once, back when the thought of living with Sasuke was suddenly no longer so very far out of reach, “with all the time you and Sasuke do spend together, you may as well just give him a key.”

(Because Shikamaru doesn’t mind whenever Sasuke comes over to their shared apartment, sometimes even offers to stay behind to let Sasuke in, if Naruto’s running a little late for one of his and Sasuke’s drama nights, like that one night in particular.)

In that very same conversation, however, he admitted it was a little jarring to see someone like Naruto acting so indecisive.

“You’re not an undeserving guy. Just stop being so quick to sell yourself short, all right.”

“Shikamaru…”

But then Shikamaru went right back to teasing him, when Naruto brought up the fact that agreeing to share a place with Sasuke didn’t automatically mean they were dating.

“Of course it doesn’t have to mean you’re dating. I never said it does. You are projecting, though.”

Ever since their sort of guys’ night out at that pokey little underground bar, when Naruto carried a passed-out Sasuke home, walking alongside Shikamaru and Kiba, the accidental confession he didn’t mean to make drawn out of him, supposedly suffering from being the oversensitive boyfriend type because he wouldn’t let anyone call Sasuke Himiko-bastard anymore, ultimately accused of being the kind of overly concerned boyfriend Sasuke didn’t know he was trying too hard to be—ever since then, the two of them haven’t stopped ragging on him about his feelings for Sasuke, very rarely missing a chance to point out that Sasuke is _exactly_ his type, guy or not, just in less obvious ways.

Not to say Kenji hasn’t gotten in a few words, too. Or that Suigetsu hasn’t given him these very suspicious, knowing looks, whenever he calls Naruto Blondie, while referring to Sasuke as _My Roomie_ , clearly getting a kick out of indirectly making fun of Naruto. Even Shino’s made a few offhand remarks, and he doesn’t even know them that well, so, really, this tendency to bring up whatever progress he isn’t making with Sasuke, it’s developed into a very highly unnecessary pastime at Naruto’s expense.

Chouji’s been the only considerate one, probably because he has such a soft spot for Sasuke—enough that he was the one who told Naruto about Sasuke’s birthday—but he usually leaves Naruto to his own devices, hasn’t openly teased him about his seeming inability to confess to Sasuke, having long ago accepted Naruto as Shikamaru’s weird roommate, since, apparently, even after that incident in Green Hall, when Naruto all but landed face first in Sasuke’s lap, the way Naruto supposedly keeps falling over himself around Sasuke still isn’t the worst Chouji’s seen.

_“Well, the way I figure, even if Shikamaru told me I shouldn’t interfere, and let this apparent thing between you two run its course, if the inevitable is already inevitable, then that just means it’s only a matter of time, right?”_

After Sasuke invited him to share a place together, though, as quickly as Naruto agreed to it on the spot, of course the teasing just got worse, and became this sort of open secret that seemingly only Sasuke wasn’t told.

Apparently, thankfully, _somehow_ , Sasuke still doesn’t know, or at least it seems like Sasuke doesn’t know, since it’s not like that’s something Naruto can just randomly bring up in conversation, despite all the strange sort of encouragement he’s received through continuous teasing from nearly everyone else in their shared circle of close friends.

But he has his reasons for holding back, what he believes are very good reasons why someone as headstrong as he admittedly is still can’t bring himself to admit to Sasuke how much he really does like him.

Because the way he feels for Sasuke…

The first person he ever fell for, the first person he really did believe he was going to spend the rest of his life with, she...

It started during his second year in high school, and he was only sixteen, so maybe he should’ve known better than to put himself out there like that, anyway, but they shared a lot of firsts with each other.

He truly thought she’d be it for him, that they’d eventually get married, that they’d one day have kids, become the kind of family he’d always wanted, but after that pregnancy scare, when their parents found out about them, it didn’t take long for him to learn about all the things she’d say behind his back—how she really felt, the kinds of harsh things too quickly spread through rumours other girls in their class would whisper about him when they thought he wasn’t listening, and sometimes even when he was.

She said his personality was too much, accused him of being too clingy and too emotional, especially for a guy, and especially at their age. The way she broke things off, before she just completely ignored him, that day she sent him a message, simply said she didn’t want to see him anymore, told him he needed to grow up, before the next girl found his off-putting traits to be too overbearing.

As bad the experience was, it hadn’t turned him entirely off dating. He’s had a few casual relationships, alongside the occasional sex here and there, but nothing even close to like what he’s come to have with Sasuke—the kind of relationship he _wants_ with Sasuke.

Sasuke being a guy, sure, that’s probably what's holding him back, too, because that threw him off a little at first.

For one, he’s never been with another guy, and liking guys, that wasn’t something he ever thought about before. So, maybe in that sense, it has a lot more to do with nerves, since he doesn’t exactly trust himself when it comes to jumping into something like this, something still so new—never mind if Sasuke would even like him that way, too.

But he’s also reached the point where he can imagine doing with Sasuke the kinds of intimate things that would make him blush, if he let his already overactive imagination get too carried away, the kinds of scenarios that would make his entire body burn red, make him too nervous to even think about looking at Sasuke sometimes, all but convinced Sasuke could somehow hear any lingering thoughts about him wanting to know if Sasuke would make the same kinds of cute expressions during—

And while he can both recognise and appreciate Sasuke’s looks, attractive by most people’s standards, especially with his more traditional features, having pale skin with dark hair and dark eyes, how much Sasuke really does remind him of the types of girls he’s gone for in the past, even if Sasuke’s a more aggressive kind of shy, Sasuke’s still just... _Sasuke_.

As much as Sasuke likes to tease him, likes to call him a camera nerd, likes to threaten that he knows where Naruto keeps his baby, whenever he’s feeling particularly embarrassed, or on the verge of giving into one of Naruto’s ideas—more and more it’s the way impossibly dark eyes will go soft when he calls Naruto a dork, soft like the sound of his voice, so very soft the way sometimes Sasuke will say his name, will look at him with this small, really gentle smile, even when Naruto doesn’t mean to get carried away talking about photography, actually _listens_ when Naruto gets caught up in something he’s really passionate about, actually cares enough to remember what Naruto has to say, when other times people have said he talks too much, when plenty of times Naruto being himself had been enough to drive a lot of people away.

And despite how he and Sasuke met, how much Sasuke really didn’t like him during most of their first year, despite all the initial bumps in a friendship Naruto even then believed was ultimately worth pursuing, pushing that much harder every time a standoffish Sasuke tried to pull away, all those times Sasuke complained about him making a scene in public and being such a brash and presumptuous guy, in the end, Sasuke’s never once asked him to be someone else, never once suggested there was anything Naruto should do to be less of himself.

And that’s what Naruto doesn’t want to change.

That’s what he’s afraid of losing.

Although he doesn’t regret being so persistent about making Sasuke his friend, in hindsight, maybe it was a little unfair of him, the way he chased after Sasuke, because of how quickly he found himself increasingly drawn to this crazy idea of wanting to receive that kind of simple recognition from someone outside his family, having such an easy, near unconditional acceptance from Sasuke that just _is_ , that left him struggling against the seemingly sudden need to keep all of Sasuke’s attention to himself, as they grew closer, how hard it hit him one day, the startling realisation that he didn’t know how to let Sasuke go.

But to risk everything he already has to go after that kind relationship with Sasuke, so much more than any physical attraction he’s come to terms with, the tiny little possibility that Sasuke wouldn’t forever push him away, that even tinier possibility he’d get to spend the rest of his life waking up to someone who looks at him the way Sasuke does, that he’d get to spend the rest of his life waking up to _Sasuke_ —he doesn’t know if he wants to take that risk.

So, trying not to ruin what he has with Sasuke now, wanting to hold on to that, he thinks it’s more than a good enough reason to keep his feelings to himself, despite Kiba’s continued attempts to convince him that’s not the case.

“Okay, so, let me get this straight,” Kiba said, making a show of clearing his throat. “I mean, we already established that Sasuke _willingly_ does your laundry, right? Even though he already knows you keep leaving your clothes at his place on purpose.”

“I don’t see where you’re going with this.”

“The same place your subconscious went when you thought it was a good idea to leave your Doraemon clock at the apartment Sasuke shares with Suigetsu.”

“...I thought you finally stopped with the comedy act when we all decided you shouldn’t give up on painting as a career.”

“Not now, Naruto.” Kiba shushed him, fanning his hand quickly in Naruto’s general direction. “As the funny man, it’s not your turn to talk, all right—but never mind the clock you used as an obvious placeholder for the ring you still haven’t picked out to propose to him with yet.”

Naruto blushed, pulling his chopsticks away from his mouth, nearly choking on the repurposed leftover takeout he bought to share with Sasuke the night before. “It wasn’t a—”

Kiba gave Naruto a few hard slaps on the back, a little too eager with the force behind his hand. “No, listen—listen, on top of all the other weird, couple type things you and Sasuke already do together, even though you two don’t actually live together, now we can add the fact that he’s willing to cook for you, too?”

“What about it?”

Lowering his hand, Kiba lowered his gaze to the plate in front of Naruto. Blinking, he glanced at Naruto, then back to the plate, looking up again to stare Naruto down.

Naruto swallowed the rest of the food in his mouth, pointedly ignoring the heat he could still feel on his face.

“Not saying I’m the kind of guy looking to settle down so young or anything, but even I have to admit, hell, if I had someone like that, if I had what you have with Sasuke, seriously, man, I mean...

“What are you even waiting for at this point?”

“...helping me, Kiba. This isn’t doing it.”

As much as Kiba likes to play up the playboy character, as often as he calls himself a ladies’ man, he’s been surprisingly insightful when it comes to relationship type things, and doesn’t mind letting Naruto unload from time to time.

Still, Naruto tries not to go to him too much. Not just because he doesn’t want to bother him, but also because Kiba usually points out a lot of things about his relationship with Sasuke that are still hard for him to accept outside their current friendship.

Because it’s more than just the time they spend together, how many times Naruto’s lost count catching Sasuke falling asleep on his shoulder, recently getting away with placing an arm around Sasuke to bring him closer—how often they do end up sleeping next to each other, sharing Sasuke’s spare futon, or lying beneath the same blanket while Sasuke makes himself too comfortable on Naruto’s grey comfy chair.

And the whole laundry thing, that’s sort of become their normal, too. So, yeah, he has a habit of leaving his clothes with Sasuke on purpose, but he doesn’t think it’s as big a deal as Kiba tries to make it seem.

It actually started off as an accident, those first few times during those nights he spent over at Sasuke’s place, but then the fact Sasuke went ahead and washed those clothes, on Saturday mornings, that Sasuke will _still_ wash and fold Naruto’s laundry alongside his own (despite how many times he’s gotten on Naruto for it)—that’s just become another one of those things they just do.

On the other hand, maybe that’s just him taking advantage of the situation, using it as a passive excuse to visit Sasuke, because maybe he really is that hopeless, looking for reasons to justify wanting to be near him, steadily becoming more selfish, finding all these parts of Sasuke he doesn’t want anyone else to see, when they’re alone, every time when he gets a chance to see Sasuke smile, the way just being with Sasuke makes him feel...

Sasuke cooking for him, actually, that is sort of new. He used to cook for himself more, used to make a lot of healthier stuff, a few simple meals here and there, before he started going out so much with Naruto.

More often lately, though, Sasuke’s started trying to make use of the leftovers from the takeout they probably do eat too much of. He tries to cook from scratch, too, between classes and his new job at MOS Burger, at least once a week tries to find the time to make meals they can share, or meals Naruto can take for lunch on the rare occasion they aren’t able to eat together.

He was a little shy about it at first, that very forceful brand of violent shy that only ever seems to apply whenever Sasuke decides to take his embarrassment out on him, but, eventually, as he got more comfortable around Naruto, he got more comfortable sharing that side of himself.

(Naruto did try to return the favour once, but, according to Sasuke, Naruto’s not allowed to use Shikamaru’s rice cooker anymore, because of that one time— _one time_ —Naruto accidentally burned the rice, which somehow personally offended Sasuke, who then took it on himself to ban Naruto from ever using Shikamaru’s rice cooker again.

“You managed to burn rice, Naruto. _Rice._ In a rice cooker.”)

To be honest, Sasuke’s not necessarily the best at cooking, or at least when it comes to the more experimental kinds of foods, the sort of highly questionable foods he often makes only Naruto try.

For a guy who doesn’t even like sweets, he’s surprisingly good with the handful of dessert recipes he does know, but then there are times when he likes his spicy foods a little too spicy, although there are also times when it’s like there’s just no flavour at all; and sometimes he tends to go a little overboard with anything that has to do with tomatoes, other times just plain stingy with meat dishes because of his preference for vegetables and fish, although too many times already has Naruto silently accused him of having absolutely no taste buds.

It’s kind of a tossup, really, with a little bit of dread thrown in there every now and then, too, but watching Sasuke cook sometimes, how determined Sasuke gets, bottom teeth dragged near the corner of his lower lip, every time he has that concentrated, not quite constipated expression, during plating, how seriously he takes the look of the overall presentation, it really is cute.

Not that he’d ever say that out loud, but it’s plays a part in why he still can’t bring himself to say no, whenever Sasuke quietly demands he try something new, so Naruto just suffers in silence, forcing his poor body to brave the unpredictability that has become tasting Sasuke’s food.

It’s also why he wears the protection charm he all but had to beg Kiba for, had to put up with Kiba holding his stomach and wheezing due to entirely too much laughter (“Priceless, Naruto, oh, man—this is just _priceless_.”), in exchange for letting Kiba come over even more often than he already does, just to hook up his Xbox to Naruto’s large TV he’d give himself permission use, anyway.

But he just wants to do his best to be supportive, as supportive as Sasuke’s been, all the little ways Sasuke tries to take care of him, even if Sasuke isn’t so straightforward about it.

And, maybe even more than that, since he can already admit he’s selfish about a lot of things when it comes to Sasuke, he can also admit he just really likes that rush of giddy emotion from knowing Sasuke does feel like he can rely on a clumsy guy like him, does trust him with so many parts of himself, that someone as finicky as Sasuke doesn’t always mind when Naruto tries to take care of him, too.

Of course, Naruto has to be a little creative about it. He can’t be too direct, because Sasuke still has a hard time accepting help from other people, so he compromises with the little things, like those blue storage cubes he bought, a place for Sasuke keep his stuff, including his ink and paint supplies, so he doesn’t have to worry about travelling with so much when he comes over.

It usually involves food, though, since that’s one of the few situations he’s learned Sasuke doesn’t necessarily mind Naruto’s attempts to do things for him.

Aside from treating Sasuke to his favourite curry rice, he’s already made a habit of stocking up on those seaweed rice crackers he keeps in his and Shikamaru’s fridge, and way too many bottles of that flavoured yet disgustingly unsweetened tea Sasuke always seems to be drinking, almost as bad as all those weird ramune flavours Suigetsu likes.

(“It’s just tea, Naruto.”

“But there’s no _sugar.”_ )

He doesn’t know why, but it just turned into another one of those things that they do. Something they began bonding over pretty early on, a routine that became regular between them, it happened after he finally started getting through to Sasuke, but while they were still getting to know each other on a first-name basis.

It probably began during their second term, the first time Sasuke offered to share his lunch, when Naruto forgot to bring his wallet.

Mumbling that Naruto _would_ be the kind of forgetful guy who couldn’t even take care of himself properly, Sasuke had looked away, while thrusting his store-bought bento toward Naruto, threatening to take it right back, when Naruto squinted at him and asked if the food was poisoned.

It was such a small gesture, but that was also the day Sasuke finally told him his name, the day Naruto began to stop thinking of him as the guy who nearly took him out with a shaman stick, began to think of him as more than just the guy formerly known as Himiko-bastard, the once menacing, tomato-faced rokurokubi with the impossibly dark eyes, because then Naruto eventually began to see him as _Sasuke_.

He began to see the nice guy Suigetsu initially claimed Sasuke to be, the Sasuke who doesn’t hesitate to let Naruto finish whatever he won’t eat, the Sasuke who lets Naruto convince him to try new foods, who doesn’t say anything about waiting with Naruto in the long lines for Krispy Kreme.

At the same time, as territorial as Naruto knows he can be with his own food, especially when it comes to the _really good ramen_ , for whatever reason, he’s never had a problem sharing with Sasuke, either, even when they weren’t as close as they are now.

(His little sisters are probably the only exception, but, even more so than their parents, he’s always been the worst at spoiling them, with a defined history of bending over backwards, wanting to make them happy, years of too readily giving into their demands—although Ino’s always been a little more demanding than Sakura, since she’s a little too much like him for his personal comfort.

“But I like our favourite brand of instant been ramen, too, Naruto-nii, so you have to share with me, or I'll tell Mom on you, because you already said you’d share with me, and eating the last cup of our favourite brand of instant beef ramen on your own isn’t sharing with me, you know.”)

Still, it is a little surprising, how much sharing his food with Sasuke never really bothered him (or maybe that’s just a consequence from having to deal with fighting off Kiba trying to freeload all the time), although considering how often Sasuke likes to help himself to picking at Naruto’s food, instead of just getting his own, sometimes he worries if Sasuke’s eating enough, because worrying about Sasuke is just something he does now, especially knowing how wrapped up Sasuke gets in his paintings or studying.

The disaster that was their first meeting aside, when Naruto somehow found himself stumbling right into Sasuke’s path, nearly running late on the first day of classes, cutting across the campus greens early that morning, not meaning to startle the weird, dark-haired guy swinging around a shaman stick (“For the last time, stop calling it that, Naruto. You already know what it is. You’re the one whose head broke my shinai.”)—since then, they really have come a long way.

And yet, ever since then, somehow, the closer he gets to Sasuke, the more he starts to feel like he’ll never be close enough.

On the surface, Sasuke doesn’t come across as an approachable guy. And he isn’t, because it really does take a lot to get close to him, but not in the way most people would probably think.

(It’s hard enough for strangers trying to get Sasuke’s attention, never mind the all pretty girls Naruto’s seen attempt to flirt with Sasuke, so Naruto definitely had his work cut out for him back then, despite the amount of effort he put into trying to get Sasuke to acknowledge him, when Sasuke already couldn’t stand him, all those times Sasuke went out of his way to ignore him.)

Apart from the usual, expected politeness, Sasuke just doesn't give most people the time of day. He’s mostly indifferent, really. Unless it comes to his professors, especially Kakashi, and the small group of friends he had long before Naruto came into the picture; it just so happened that their social circles came to overlap, like with Chouji and Shikamaru.

And it’s not that he thinks Sasuke actively tries to be anti-social, either. Or maybe not all the time, he should say, because it isn’t like Sasuke’s much of a social guy, anyway. Naruto knows that Sasuke has social skills. Depending on the situation, Sasuke can be ridiculously polite. It’s just that he can also be really picky about when he chooses to.

He’s still a nice person (nice to anyone not Naruto, apparently), but he also has that kind of single-minded focus when it comes to anything to do with school and his art. He’s just the sort of guy who knows what he wants to do. When he has a goal, he’s going to push himself to reach it, won’t let himself be easily distracted, which sometimes means everything else falls to the wayside.

And, yeah, of course Naruto gets that. In so many ways can he relate, because he came to Tama with a dream. The way he feels the about photography, Sasuke’s just as dedicated to ink painting and calligraphy, and that was something Naruto was immediately able to pick up, before he even knew Sasuke’s name, when he kept referring to him as Himiko-bastard in his head.

After that first note he passed through Suigetsu, still firmly resolved to get Sasuke to accept his apology for the Green Hall incident, after receiving Sasuke’s blatant refusal that also called Naruto’s poor excuse for writing chicken scratch, despite all the written insults, Naruto couldn’t help but notice Sasuke’s handwriting.

He remembers being surprised by how nice he thought it was, how much it reminded him of his grandmother Mito he’d only met through photos, all the stories his mom told him about her side of the family, about what was left of the older traditions that were passed down only to her—and that someone with such an off-putting personality could write with strokes that somehow even made katakana look pretty, it was one of the very first things that initially drew him to Sasuke, when he started noticing the ink over Sasuke’s hands, started wondering if Sasuke took calligraphy, which actually led to him suggesting Sasuke should, after he blurted out in an empty hallway that he liked Sasuke’s handwriting, in a last-ditch attempt to keep Sasuke from walking away.

(“All this time, that’s why you’ve been following me. Because you like my _handwriting_?")

It makes him wonder sometimes, whether or not he and Sasuke would’ve met, if it hadn’t been for that day Sasuke nearly took him out with a shaman stick, if that hadn’t inspired him to come up with the name Himiko-bastard, a name that stuck to a face he wasn’t able to forget, if he would’ve ever noticed Sasuke outside of those circumstances, because, otherwise, even with Tama being a small school, even though they do have mutual friends, and even if they still would’ve eventually crossed paths, the fact that they are in different tracks, honestly, Naruto doesn’t think they’d have the kind of relationship they do now.

It’s a sobering kind of thought. Sasuke’s still his best friend, will always be his best friend, whether he’d return Naruto’s feelings or not. And even though Sasuke still hasn’t said it back or hasn’t said anything against it, every time Naruto calls Sasuke his best friend, every time he tells other people, he _means_ it. Even putting aside his romantic feelings, even if their relationship now is all it’s ever meant to be, it’s very hard to imagine being able to get through the past three years at Tama without someone like Sasuke in his life.

Someone who makes him feel like maybe his personality isn’t too much, that maybe he isn’t so overbearing, that everything he’s been trying to remind himself, all the good things his parents have always told him, all the reasons his little sisters still look up to him, maybe those things really are true.

Because being so close to Sasuke, simply knowing he’s become important to him, too, being able to have and share so many experiences with him, all quiet those moments held between them, the kind of bond they have, the kind of relationship that goes well beyond Sasuke just being his friend, for the first time in a long time, being with Sasuke, it makes him feel needed, actually makes him feel _wante_ —

What they have now, that’s fine. It’s not everything he wants, but it’s everything he’s going to do his best to keep. So, no, he’s not making excuses. He just doesn’t want to be the reason he pushes Sasuke away.

Because what if one day Sasuke decides he really is too much? What if Sasuke gets tired of Naruto being who he is? Too loud, too brash, the kind of person he can’t help but be, but if he hasn’t pushed Sasuke away by now, if he’s actually going to be living with Sasuke soon, maybe, at least with the way things are, instead of trying to ruin it altogether, instead of trying to ask for something more, maybe what Sasuke’s already given him, maybe that should be enough.

Besides, it’s almost been a month since Sasuke brought up the idea of moving together, and they’re still searching for a place, before their current leases are up. Hopefully, they can find something in their price range, somewhere not too close to the city, but also not too far away from campus, for daily commutes on the train.

Today will be their third appointment this week. The place they’re supposed to be looking at later on this afternoon, it’s an apartment Naruto found in Narita. It has a nice bathroom, and the living area is a pretty good selling point. Only possible downside is that it only has one bedroom, although it’s generous enough to fit two small beds, alongside a couple pieces of furniture. However, what first attracted him was the kitchen.

Going by the photos he saw online, it’s a sizeable kitchen for the price, a price it wouldn’t make sense to pass up, well within their combined budget, especially for the location; it’s bigger than the tiny kitchen Sasuke shares with Suigetsu, offers a lot more than the kitchen Naruto shares with Shikamaru, a cramped space that pretty much boils down to a small fridge, the smallest little microwave, and Shikamaru’s rice cooker that stays on the too narrow counter.

Not that he’ll tell Sasuke why he’s hoping this place in Narita will work out, but it only makes sense that the kitchen should be one of the determining factors, since cooking is something Sasuke likes doing, and if encouraging him ultimately means Naruto putting his own life on the line more often, he can bear with it a little while longer.

That’s what the protection charm is for, anyway.

It’s supposed to be a bit of a surprise, though, too, so he’s a little more excited about this apartment than the others; he made the appointment on short notice, having only found the new listing posted two days before, and was fortunately able to squeeze in a time that worked around both his and Sasuke’s schedules.

Sasuke hasn’t seen the photos yet, but he simply took Naruto’s word for it, when Naruto said it was the kind of place he’d like.

He knows Sasuke more than well enough by now, and obviously Sasuke trusts him, if it was that simple for Sasuke to agree.

Being in Narita already puts the apartment in a good location, but it’s also in a quiet neighbourhood, an area with mostly older people, that doesn’t get too crowded, with not a lot of places to shop, but with really nice scenery.

That’s why he’s been looking forward to it, if only to see the look on Sasuke’s face, because he’s confident Sasuke will like it. If that is the case, though, a place like that, he just hopes they’re actually able to get it.

They still have a few hours until the actual appointment, one more class until they have to catch the train. It’s only a quarter ‘til noon, still early in the day, earlier than their usual lunch, but they’re also trying to leave campus as soon as possible, so they can make a day of it.

After seeing the apartment, if all goes well, they’re going hang out in the city for a while, check out a few of the used camera shops, since Naruto’s been saving up for another fixed lens, and he prefers to buy most of his equipment in person.

Sasuke’s the same way, too, especially with his brushes. Those can get pretty expensive, and he’s very particular about the ones he’ll use, taking special care of the set that was passed down to him from his mom’s side of the family.

(“Have you ever been to the Kumano Brush Festival before?”

Sasuke lifted his head from Naruto’s shoulder, looking up from the sketchbook opened over his lap. “I haven’t.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“I just thought it seemed like something you might want to see, I guess.”

“I’ve heard of it, but...”

“You should go, then,” Naruto got out through a near jumble of sound, words said too hasty, probably a little too loud, although just as quickly, he added the Brush Festival to the growing list of places he did want to take Sasuke to see someday, fighting back the usual kind of impulse that would have him declare one day he really was going to do just that.

“I mean...I just think you’d like it.”

Sasuke gave him a thoughtful look, gave a soft little hum, dark eyes slightly narrowed in consideration, before he lowered his head back against Naruto’s shoulder, with his mechanical pencil still in hand, lightly tracing the shadows of stylised clouds, immediately picking up where he left off in his sketchbook.

“...maybe.”)

For now, though, they’re just having lunch, in between seemingly random streams of conversation, bouncing around ideas to get an early start preparing for their portfolios next year, a final portfolio that’s required for all students to graduate.

He still doesn’t know what he wants to do yet. Not that he doesn’t have plenty time to decide, but it’s already nearing the end of his third year, and he has been getting kind of antsy about putting together a body of work that would best showcase his the range of what he’s able to do.

He’s gotten some good feedback from Iruka, who keeps telling him not to rush, to take his time, and find ways to apply his strengths in less familiar areas, in order to push himself outside his normal boundaries. He’s not so comfortable with portraits, so that’s something he’s been thinking of working on, maybe incorporating a short, black and white series, since he can’t rely on cloudscapes forever.

He thought about asking Sasuke to be his subject again, not seriously, just to tease him, because he knows Sasuke doesn’t like that kind of attention. But after having to do that sketchbook assignment for Genma’s class, the first time he managed to get Sasuke in front of the camera, he’s been itching to see Sasuke like that again, instead of having to imagine how it’d look to capture the way the light tends to hit Sasuke’s face, all the small ways Sasuke really is expressive, what it’d be like to capture the really soft smiles that Sasuke sometimes gets shy about him Naruto see.

Coming up with reasons to convince Sasuke, though, it’s still a work in a progress, because Sasuke’s especially prickly about having his photo taken, and maybe, just maybe, Naruto’s continued teasing about Sasuke being his muse, maybe that has something to do with it, too.

It’s kind of funny how shy Sasuke gets about the most unexpected things. It’s easy to see now that he knows what sort of reaction to look for, when Sasuke purses his lips, the way his cheeks get a little puffy, sometimes the slightest blush that barely colours his cheeks, before he turns to hide his face, sometimes hitting a widely grinning Naruto a little too forcefully in the process.

But none of that has to mean they’re dating.

And if he’s feeling especially giddy today, if this place in Narita is where he can actually see himself living with Sasuke, whether or not it’s from the nerves that started to kick in this morning, his excitement from wanting to impress Sasuke, that doesn’t have to mean anything, either.

They’re just having their regular lunch. Nothing unusual about that at all.

And yet, in moments like these, sometimes, whenever he’s out with Sasuke, when it’s just the two of them sharing a comfortable silence, he starts to wonder if this really is the kind of thing couples do, because he can almost hear Shikamaru’s voice in the back of his mind, can pretty much picture that all too knowing look on Shikamaru’s face.

“Yes, Naruto. This is exactly the kind of thing couples do.”

Other times, he can practically hear Kiba laughing, loud and obnoxious—in general, Kiba just being _Kiba_.

“I know me and Shikamaru like to tease you about moving too slow, but even considering your depressingly dried-up track record, shouldn’t you be looking for a ring by now?”

Naruto’s right eye began to twitch.

“Or does moving in together mean you’ve finally reached the stage where you’re planning out your proposal?”

Alongside his usual, unimpressed glare as a response to Kiba’s typical teasing, accordingly, Naruto threw at him the nearest hard object within reach.

A pen.

Not that it did anything to stop Kiba’s laughter, actually ended up encouraging even more of it, but, going at this rate, Naruto really was going to run out of pens to use.

All that aside, okay, so, well, maybe today’s lunch feels a little different from their regular lunches. And maybe that’s why he was so determined to persuade Sasuke to try the new gelato shop that opened up last month; it’s been a pretty popular spot, on the way to one of the more secluded parks Sasuke likes to go to, but the shop’s normally not so busy around this time, and he really enjoys being able to convince Sasuke to try foods he usually wouldn’t eat.

Honestly, though, as much as Sasuke already acts like an old man, he really is a kid when it comes to trying different types of things, ridiculously picky, despite the fact that most of the time he ends up liking whatever food Naruto suggests, anyway.

Sometimes, it kind of does feel like Naruto has to coax him into trying something new, truly is a wonder that he hasn’t yet given into the occasional urge to physically feed Sasuke himself. Really, he’d think the guy was being forced to eat burnt natto. Almost every time, Sasuke either acts like his arm’s being twisted behind him, or the food’s somehow out to get him.

But then it’s also become an opportunity to watch the really cute expressions Sasuke makes, the kind of expression he’s making now, when his face scrunches just a little, like he can’t decide if he wants to frown or not, so he just stares at the small paper cup of cucumber gelato held in his hand, lightly scraping the tip of his tiny plastic spoon against the rim.

In general, Sasuke just tends to eat slowly, though. He can be a little absent-minded about it, putting food on the backburner for whatever else he’s doing, especially when he’s struggling to get Kakashi to respond to his emails. It’s distracted eating at best.

And yet, even when his mind isn’t somewhere else, Sasuke tends to take his sweet time, anyway, taking what feels like ages to finish his food.

Seriously, the unreasonable amount of time it sometimes takes Sasuke to eat, how long he draws out the process, bit by bit, slowly tearing off a small piece of Naruto’s half-sandwich he might’ve helped himself to, or those steamed vegetable buns from the canteen he really likes—and then taking entirely too much time taking apart those already small portions into smaller pieces it takes him seemingly forever _and_ a day to chew.

It’s annoying, that’s what it is. 

He won’t say he’s the most polite eater, or even the messiest one (never mind when Sasuke complains about him always slurping his ramen too loudly—like that’s even a thing), but sometimes even he can’t help but feel like a slob in comparison, like he eats both too fast and too much, because by the time Sasuke’s finally started picking apart his second steamed bun, usually, Naruto’s already done with his food it then feels he all but scarfed down.

Once upon a time, he used to think he ate pretty normally, finally outgrew all those bad habits his mom and dad used to get on him for, at least until he started sharing meals with Sasuke.

He wouldn’t have given it a second thought before, but the average time it takes him to get through two egg and mayonnaise sandwiches, he really doesn’t want to think it isn’t that much.

Instead, he spares a glace towards his large, grey and orange backpack, to the open side mesh pocket holding a half-full travel bottle of Kewpie mayonnaise (the one Sasuke made a judgmental face at him for even buying, still does every time Naruto stocks up, because he claims there’s a lingering smell from Naruto always using mayonnaise too much), making a mental reminder to buy more, before his gaze settles back on Sasuke, who still hasn’t tried the gelato yet.

Sasuke’s still looking at it, head down, just staring, like he’s waiting for the gelato to actually jump out at him or something, so Naruto in turn continues to watch, giving a slow, encouraging nod, when Sasuke slowly begins to lift the plastic spoon from the cup.

And then, as Sasuke raises his head, bringing the spoon towards his mouth, dark eyes narrowed at the barely there, curved lump of pale green gelato—just when it looks like he’s finally going to try it, he ends up licking _around_ the spoon.

It’s already such a small spoon, yet, instead of trying all of it at once, Sasuke gives the most ridiculously cautious lick around the tiny little plastic spoon, agonisingly slow, like he’s just waiting not to like it, waiting to be disgusted, on principle alone, all but refusing to give Naruto’s suggestion a chance.

Seriously, who in their right mind eats like that?

“...so?”

“...it’s not...” Sasuke tilts his head to the side a little, gives a slight pause. “It’s not...bad, I guess.”

Which is as close as Sasuke will probably ever admit to liking it, but that suits Naruto just fine. He’s going to call it a win, anyway, grinning, as he lets himself preen a bit, because he likes that he’s gotten to know Sasuke so well; that’s why Sasuke eventually ends up going along with most of his ideas, no matter how much he tries to pretend he won’t otherwise.

“Told you you’d like it.”

Sasuke snorts. “Don’t sound so proud of yourself.” He gives the spoon another lick, finishing the rest of the gelato, this time without acting like it’s out to get him. “Here.”

Naruto gives a half-shrug in response, the sheer gravity of the implications attached to that one single word not really registering, even as he watches Sasuke dip the same tiny little plastic spoon back into the cup, gathering a more generous scoop of the gelato, before Sasuke reaches across with his left hand, bringing the tiny little spoon towards Naruto’s waiting mouth.

Meeting Sasuke halfway, he doesn’t even question what he’s doing, or the nagging feeling that he’s somehow missing something. He just accepts the offer without thinking, like this is just another of those things they’ve already done over and over before, because now he kind of wants to try the gelato, too.

The texture’s lighter than he expected, sort of airy, and it goes down pleasantly smooth, nearly dissolving in his mouth.

Being cucumber, it’s already pretty mild, but the sweetness is subtle, not overpowering at all, with the smallest hint of mint. Although it’s not sweet enough for him, it’s still good, leaving a refreshing aftertaste on his tongue, the really mellow kind of flavour that goes especially well with the higher than usual humidity of the season, as it gets closer to the summer months.

By the time he starts to swallow, the spoon’s already being carefully pulled away, just as he licks his lips, catching the small traces of gelato at the corner of his mouth.

It takes a few more seconds to catch up to him, but that nagging feeling, exactly what he was missing, it finally starts to sink in, the realisation coming too late, when he remembers they’ve never actually done anything like this before, the kind of thing couples do he never thought he’d be able to do with Sasuke any time soon, if ever.

It turns his body stiff, a thought that sends his mind reeling, sends his heart racing, hammering way too fast in his chest, the way he feels all the blood rush to his face, while his temperature keeps rising, a heat that feels like it’s going to permanently colour his skin.

Because Sasuke, he...

That Sasuke could just...

But this is a moment, right?

He thinks they’re having a moment.

No, no, they are _definitely_ having a moment, because what Sasuke just did, that’s the sort of thing couples do, isn’t it?

The kind of thing he and Sasuke just happen to do that everybody keeps teasing him about?

That’s what this kind of moment is.

Like that scene in the last Korean drama Sasuke made him watch, the one with the friend couple at the cafe, where the clumsy main character accidently spills her drink, and the guy she really likes offers to share his with her, so she won’t have to waste her money on buying another one, because it turns out he secretly likes her, too.

And while they started with separate straws, the main character somehow gets their straws mixed up, causing them both to panic, when they realise they just shared an indirect kiss in public, and end up making a scene in the quiet cafe because of it.

And what just happened with Sasuke, doesn’t that count as one, too? 

Isn’t that what it was, an indirect kiss?

And yet this is even worse than that, because they didn’t just share a straw.

No, the spoon that originally touched Sasuke’s lips, the spoon that was _in_ Sasuke’s mouth, Sasuke used that spoon to _feed_ him.

Not quite sure how to function anymore, Naruto just continues to stare, still unable to move, barely able to think, because he’s still trying to process the fact he just ate from the same spoon that went straight from Sasuke’s mouth and right into his.

On the verge of spontaneous combustion, he almost worries about making a scene in public, except they’re not in public. They’re in the park, by themselves, because this is the kind of place they usually have lunch when the weather’s really nice, because Sasuke’s a private person, and would rather spend time with him when it’s just the two of them alone, which Naruto’s really, really come to appreciate— _and how can Sasuke sit there unmoved and act like he didn’t just suddenly throw Naruto spiralling into an emotional crisis he was nowhere near prepared for?_

But Sasuke’s not even paying any attention to him. Like nothing happened, he doesn’t even seem to think twice about what he did. He just carries on with his life, carries on totally unbothered, legs tucked beneath him, somehow comfortable like that sitting on the grass, already back to leaning against Naruto’s right shoulder, leaning into the arm Naruto felt bold enough to place around him.

Only because Naruto’s gotten away with doing it a lot more lately, and Sasuke still hasn’t said anything about it, so Naruto likes to tell himself it’s for sake of his own comfort, since Sasuke usually ends up leaning against him, anyway, and at least like this, it keeps his arm from being squished between them.

Yet despite how many times he’s already done this before, how easy it is to be comfortable like this, it’s in this moment he becomes hyperaware of just how close together they’re sitting, pressed up against one another, how very little of them actually isn’t touching—seriously, how did he not notice any of this before?

Faint.

That’s what he feels.

Like he actually might keel over.

Because that tiny little spoon Sasuke’s still holding, the spoon earlier he was so very slowly licking around, the same spoon that was just in Naruto’s mouth? Sasuke dips it back into the cup, scoops out a small mound of gelato this time just enough to fill the shallow bowl of the spoon, and then slides the spoon into his mouth, using his free hand to turn on the tablet lying in his lap, absently working to finish the rest of his gelato, while he taps open an email app from the home screen.

Although it’s a bit of a blow to his already deflated ego, how inconsiderate Sasuke’s being, not taking the very serious nature of the situation seriously, fortunately, Sasuke still hasn’t caught on, completely unaware of the devastating effect simply sharing a spoon of cucumber gelato would have on him.

If he didn’t know any better, for a second, he’d almost think Sasuke was doing it on purpose, making Naruto question all those times he almost slipped up getting a little too close, so many times he wanted to kiss Sasuke, too many times with the very near brush of his lips almost did, before someone unknowingly interrupted, or he suddenly remembered what he was doing, where he was, but there’s no way Sasuke would ever—

A hand pulls him away from his thoughts, gently turning over his left arm, so Sasuke can read the watch on Naruto’s wrist, despite the fact Sasuke has faster access to both his tablet and his phone.

But it’s a familiar touch, enough to grab Naruto’s attention, when he sits up a little, straightening his back somewhat stiff against the broad trunk of a tall tree, careful not to jostle Sasuke, when he looks down to make sure nothing’s wrong.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.” Sasuke shakes his head, carefully lowering Naruto’s arm.

Naruto bites at corner of his lip, glancing at the time displayed on Sasuke’s tablet. “Has it been that long already?”

“No, there’s still time left before my next class. I’ll probably be running a little late afterwards, though.”

“Kakashi again?”

“...yeah.” Sasuke sighs. “I’m still waiting to hear back from him about being approved for that proposal for independent study I submitted. But his flight only landed yesterday. I know he’s probably tired.”

With a small nod, Naruto gives a low hum in agreement. “That’s right. He was at that mandatory seminar you said he kept complaining about not wanting to go to.”

“Mm, it’s not just another one of his excuses this time, so...”

“I can still come by to pick you up. It wouldn’t take that long.”

“It’s not a big deal. It’ll be more crowded on campus around that time, anyway. You don’t have to wait for me.”

Of course he doesn’t have to wait for Sasuke. He doesn’t have to do a lot of things for Sasuke.

He just wants to.

But that’s not what he says. Actually, he doesn’t say anything, can’t when Sasuke all but sags against him, placing the now emptied paper cup next to his lunch bag, letting out another sigh.

Naruto frowns. “You sure?”

“It’s fine. I’ll just meet you at the station.”

“If you’re sure, then, uh, that’s okay?”

“I didn’t ask whether it was okay,” Sasuke says, gaze still fixed on his tablet. “I just wanted to let you know.”

“...oh.” 

Even though Sasuke isn’t looking at him, Naruto still ducks his head, dark hair tickling his cheek, as he tries to hide another oncoming blush. Turning away, he helps himself to one of Sasuke’s leftover steamed buns, all but stuffing his face to keep his mouth busy, too preoccupied chewing, to keep from blurting out three simple little words that were already on the tip of his tongue.

He waits for the moment to pass, for his embarrassment to fade.

After a few more seconds, he swallows, blinking once, twice, at the finger that pokes his cheek, Sasuke’s head tilted back, Sasuke peering up at him with one of those really soft little smiles this time Naruto happens to get a chance to see.

“You’re such a dork, Naruto.”

“Yeah, well, then, I, um...I guess that’s okay, too.”


	47. This Photo of Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“As long as it’s what you want to do, Naruto, I don’t mind doing it because it’s you.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, thank you for all the kudos and such. I know I'm not the most consistent person out there, but I am glad people can still enjoy these very much sleep-deprived things.
> 
> This one, though, Naruto's just...and Sasuke's so...I'm sorry?
> 
> Misleading title is misleading, but I've already been sitting on this for too long, so, before I lose the nerve again, just gonna leave it here and pretend it doesn't exist. Because I already know where I’m going for this. Although I'm also going to try working on all the RSAU stuff while I’m there.

The idea of having sex with Sasuke, as nerve-racking as it was back then, even now he can admit it’s still a little intimidating, knowing how much Sasuke really does trust him, how easily he can let Naruto just _touch_ him.

He wouldn’t necessarily say that it makes him nervous, not exactly. He wants to think he got over that a long time ago, while they were still working their way up to handjobs and blowjobs, and his entire body seemed to flush at the very real possibility of going even further than that, just the thought of wanting to do the kinds of things he would think about doing to Sasuke.

He doesn’t embarrass so quickly anymore. Although there’re still a few things he worries about, he’s gotten pretty comfortable initiating sex. He knows what to do, know better what to expect, and how to fit in the time for it when either one of them is in the mood. Overall, he can say he’s done a lot of things he’d never pictured himself doing before—least of all, kissing another guy, never mind trying something like anal, and definitely when he hadn’t even pictured doing it with any of the girls he’d been with.

(The first time he tried anal, while it did seem sort of weird in the beginning, he liked it more than he thought he would, especially likes being held in Sasuke’s arms, likes the way Sasuke feels around him, what it feels like moving inside him, tries to draw it out, the fleeting sense of relief from being as close to Sasuke as he physically can be, even if every once and a while it comes with this raw sort of ache already welled up in his chest, reminding him that even then, being that close, it’s still not enough.)

Compared to all the things Sasuke does let him get away with, though, so many things that don’t even seem to faze him, he was surprised when Sasuke told him what kinds of things he actually hadn’t done before, certain positions he’d simply refuse to do, because he said sex was just a means for him to get off, not the other way around.

“I don’t have a problem with what I like. That’s never bothered me because I just have a preference for what makes me feel good. But there was always the kind of guy who used that to make assumptions about what I should be willing to do, or how they were allowed to treat me, and didn’t care to take into account the fact that it’s just something I prefer doing.”

The implications of that went unsaid. In those kinds of conversation, it was easy to pick up the implications of many things Sasuke obviously learned from personal experience, but Sasuke’s always been straightforward about sex. Has no trouble whatsoever saying how much he likes it, or telling Naruto exactly what he wants to do.

Ironically, Naruto wasn’t so comfortable with the direct approach. Although, in this case, the things he wanted to do with Sasuke, he couldn’t help but worry about how he’d come across, especially with them both being guys, afraid it really did seem one-sided, and simply asking would be too much.

At the very least, he knew he’d eventually have sex with Sasuke. He wanted to. Despite having plenty of fantasy material, his hand could only take him so far, and masturbation cups weren’t really an option (not when he already knew what it felt like to wake up annoyingly frustrated, from being pressed that close against Sasuke and not knowing what he should do about it); those types of aids didn’t appeal to him, anyway, but, after his sixteenth birthday, his uncle had opened his eyes and showed him a whole new world of way too many things.

Before even thinking about working up the nerve to try anything with Sasuke, of course he did some research on his own. However, when he and Sasuke finally started to have those kinds of serious talks, what he once thought he knew, a lot of what he used to assume about sex between two guys, he realised pretty quickly that most of it wasn’t true.

Sasuke was patient with him, though. He could be a little too honest with his answers sometimes, whenever Naruto had questions he didn’t mean to involve Sasuke’s past experiences, but Sasuke’s never tried to push him into something he clearly wasn’t ready for. He was fine letting Naruto decide what they would do, didn’t mind following Naruto’s pace, and didn’t question why Naruto felt such a strong need to hold back.

How well Sasuke’s able to read him, when so often Naruto used to hesitate, already convinced he was going to do something wrong, every time Sasuke would wait for him, so many times simply reach for him, and Naruto would swallow at the feel of Sasuke’s palm against his own, at the careful whisper of his name, squeeze Sasuke’s hand, squeeze his eyes shut too tight, let Sasuke’s voice wash over him, let himself drown in the soft reassurance that what he was doing really was okay.

_“As long as it’s what you want to do, Naruto, I don’t mind doing it because it’s you.”_

Some of the things he likes, what he’d get so embarrassed admitting out loud, although Sasuke’s never shied away from teasing him for it, he’s always been open to what Naruto wants to try and just as willing to indulge him. Now that they go back and forth between using condoms, he might say something about having to deal with the mess at the end, but even when he already knows Naruto’s going to get carried away, very rarely will Sasuke turn him down. 

(Throw him down, maybe, if Sasuke’s feeling particularly horny, before Naruto even has a chance to blink, Sasuke pinning his wrists to the bed, using Naruto’s arms to steady himself, already shifting on top of Naruto’s lap, and being totally unfair doing that thing he shouldn’t be allowed to do with his hips.)

Other than occasionally teasing Naruto for having the nerve to blush over his own sexually depraved fantasies, Sasuke mostly just calls him a tactile person, likes to claim Naruto just has an incessant need to touch. Which probably is true. But then it works out, anyway, because to the extent that Naruto likes to touch him, just as much, Sasuke likes to be touched, too.

Yet knowing Sasuke’s history, just seeing how comfortable he really is with sex, experiencing firsthand how very aware Sasuke is of his own body...

He won’t apologise for still getting worked up thinking about Murakami, since he really can’t fault himself for being upset about someone who tried to take advantage of Sasuke, no matter how long ago it was, but the fact that Sasuke has been with other guys, has been that close to anyone else, he tries not to let those kinds of thoughts get to him, because he knows he can’t turn around and say Sasuke’s the only person he’s ever had sex with.

Sometimes, though, lying next to Sasuke, when he wakes up to Sasuke still sleeping beside him, when he just _looks_ at him, so many mornings he feels at such a loss, just feels like he’s trying to make up for the time he never got, make up for all the time with Sasuke he’ll never have, all the time in the world that still wouldn’t be enough—trying to live up to what he knows are misplaced expectations, not so hidden in the back of his mind, this vague idea of being the kind of guy Sasuke’s never asked him to be.

Except it’s more than wanting to make Sasuke feel good, more than his initial resolve to learn Sasuke’s body, knowing where to place his hands, exploring all the ways Sasuke will let him just touch, because as sensitive as Sasuke already is, wanting to believe it means that much more when Sasuke’s being touched by _him_ , he doesn’t think that makes him a bad person.

Although he catches himself staring every now and then, when his hands slide over the front of Sasuke’s legs , trail down to curve around the inside of Sasuke’s thighs, gets caught up watching the way Sasuke lets himself be moved, the way Sasuke moves with him, when he gently pushes against the inside of Sasuke’s knees.

But considering how quiet Sasuke usually is during sex, while he doesn’t make a lot of noise, he’s responsive to a lot of things, and Sasuke’s reactions, that’s what he makes sure to pay attention to, make sure he’s not doing anything Sasuke doesn’t like, if he sees that Sasuke’s getting close, the way Sasuke will reach for him, in between hitched breaths, will try to bring him even closer, holding on to him like he doesn’t want Naruto to let go.

It still manages to take him a little by surprise, though, how much Sasuke lets him get away with, all the things he used to be so self-conscious about, that Sasuke doesn’t mind letting him do.

Because Sasuke sitting with him like this, sitting in the middle of their bed, leaned back against him, held in between Naruto’s legs, it’s the kind of position Sasuke would’ve refused to do with any other guy before, the kind of position Sasuke admitted would’ve left him feeling too exposed, even during something like sex, reminding him too much how reckless he was, during that stupid phase he went through during high school.

But knowing somehow Sasuke sees him as the exception...

His arms lie loose around Sasuke, tighten as he raises his knees a higher, planting his heels nearer towards the edge of the bed, scooting closer and spreading his feet farther apart.

Sasuke slides a little lower, knees only slightly bent, letting his legs fall open to the side, as he leans further back.

Absently, Naruto toys with the front of Sasuke’s black shirt, the soft material still cool against his bare chest. He rests his chin over Sasuke’s shoulder, looking down as he lets his fingers wander, slowly reaching underneath Sasuke’s shirt, unhurried, tracing faint lines along the top of short, dark blue boxer briefs.

He gives the grey waistband a light tug, left hand slipping beneath it with only the tips of his fingers, stopping short when he feels a slight shudder from Sasuke, pulling his fingers away.

He tugs on the waistband again. Letting it snap back, he slides his hand lower, curved between Sasuke’s legs, at the sound of a soft sigh, pressing down a little harder, watching as Sasuke slowly starts to move, slowly raises his hips to meet Naruto’s palm.

With his other hand, Naruto reaches to his right, towards a small jar already opened beside him. The rest of what’s left, it’s still enough to coat most of his fingers, plenty for what he wants to do. He circles his hand along the inside of the jar from the bottom, gathering more of the thick substance he starts to rub between his fingers.

His left hand marks a path along Sasuke’s inner thigh, lightly pulls at the hem of Sasuke’s boxer briefs. Carefully, he pushes it aside, following with the pad of his thumb, marking shivers displacing the warmth of Sasuke’s skin.

Sasuke begins to extend his leg, little by little, his foot sliding closer towards the edge of the bed, before he raises his knee again, slowly lowering it back to the side.

Soft sighs start to come out a little faster, grow to sound just a little bit louder, when Naruto reaches with his right hand over Sasuke’s right arm. The angle’s a little awkward, and he can’t see much of Sasuke’s face this way, but he can see the slight tremble of Sasuke’s thighs, beneath his fingers, feels Sasuke again shiver, as he brings his left hand to rest over Sasuke’s neck, palm cradling Sasuke’s chin, moving it higher, tilting Sasuke’s head back.

Sasuke’s probably going to say something about the mess later, about why Naruto a has thing about doing it like this sometimes, but he’s usually a lot more agreeable in the moment, so Naruto really prefers to concentrate on just that, as he bites on his lower lip, careful with the slight press of his right finger, taking his time pushing inside, just as careful pulling back out.

Slowly, Sasuke starts to roll back from his hips, between uneven breaths, hardly even moves with tiny little sways, circling back down with his hips to ride the steady motions of Naruto’s finger, as Naruto gradually works his way up to two.

Naruto drops his head, breathes in through clenched teeth, breathes out too harsh. He gives in to a shallow thrust, with a low grunt, gives in to the friction from being pressed so close against Sasuke, except sitting like this, it’s not the best position for him, nowhere near close to being enough, but he holds himself there, holds himself still, forces out another breath, wets his thumb rubbing small circles against the corner of parted lips.

The hand holding Sasuke’s chin slowly moves over Sasuke’s face, slowly moves to cover his eyes.

High, Sasuke arches against him, at the crook of Naruto’s fingers suddenly moving faster, stutters through a sharp cry, pushing up from his heel against the sheets, pushing back as he sinks a little lower, rolls down with his hips trying to take in more of Naruto’s fingers, blindly reaching beside him, left hand grasping at the material of Naruto’s sweats.

And then, Naruto stops.

Almost immediately, Sasuke stops, too, but Naruto stays still.

He doesn’t do anything, just waits for Sasuke to move.

Sasuke breathes out, eyes still covered by Naruto’s hand, breathes in. He tightens his grip, palm pressing down against Naruto’s leg. Barely, only just barely, he makes the slightest little motion with his hips, but it’s still enough to make him shudder, as he lets his head fall back, with the slow, upward roll of his hips, starts to rock against Naruto’s fingers, when Naruto slowly begins to move with him, Sasuke moving to meet Naruto reaching further inside him, rolling back down with his hips to rock against Naruto hard behind him.

With the rise of his chest, Naruto shudders. His breaths start to come heavy, to his ears, sound too loud, at the fall of his chest, feel too unsteady. He grits his teeth at the increasing pressure against his lap, keeps the rest of his body still through another shudder, as Sasuke continues to move, up and down so deliberately _slow_ , sliding along the length of the impression made through the front of Naruto’s sweats

He gives it a few good seconds, tries to wait it out a little bit more, but he doesn’t give in first. Instead, he uncovers Sasuke’s eyes, lets his left hand fall away, not giving Sasuke time to think, already moving to pull at the waistband of Sasuke’s boxer briefs, bringing it down to reveal Sasuke’s erection, as he carefully lowers them both down on to the bed, lowering Sasuke on top of him.

The back of Sasuke’s head lands above Naruto’s shoulder. There’s a sharp inhale, at the sudden removal of Naruto’s fingers no longer inside him, a choked gasp, when Sasuke jolts, bucking his hips, thrusting into Naruto’s right hand. His arms flail a little, as Naruto’s other hand reaches from underneath his knee, pulling it aside to open Sasuke’s leg a little wider.

He’s getting close, Naruto can tell. The way it looks like Sasuke doesn’t know what to do with his hands, doesn’t know where to reach for Naruto first, between already shaky gasps growing higher and higher, caught between Naruto’s fingers wrapped around his erection, and Naruto’s quick, shallow thrusts from underneath him.

The sudden shift in position, like touching that one spot on the back of Sasuke’s left thigh, it really can throw Sasuke off sometimes, so that’s something Naruto will fully take advantage of, each and every time, but he stops when Sasuke grabs his arm, lets up as soon as the hand on his bicep squeezes twice, just before Sasuke tenses up and his whole body goes still.

It doesn’t take long until Sasuke begins to relax, though, before he starts to settle into the almost sleepy sort of haze that usually follows whenever they have sex.

Naruto picks up the small towel folded neatly beside him. He uses it to wipe Sasuke off, before wiping off his own fingers, distracted watching Sasuke lift his hips, carefully shimmying out of dark blue boxer briefs he then tosses somewhere over the side of the bed, completely missing the open hamper.

Setting the towel down, Naruto raises both eyebrows. “I thought you didn’t like it when it was too messy?” he says, as Sasuke moves off him, rolling on to his stomach, before turning back around to lie on his side. 

“Mm.” Sasuke raises a knee closer to his chest, facing Naruto with heavy-lidded eyes, arms folded beneath his head, cheek resting near the back of his hand.

“Hey...” Naruto sits up, almost frowns, trying to ignore the not so distant thought that he finally did do something wrong. “...you all right?”

Sasuke gives another low hum. “I’d tell you if anything was wrong. You don’t have to ask me all the time.”

“I know I don’t, but...”

“I told you. It’s fine. You’re the one who’s still hard.”

“Yeah, well...”

Of course he can’t say it’s the most comfortable feeling, but it isn’t the most unbearable thing, either. It happens sometimes. Besides, it’s already getting late. The whole point of this was supposed to be about getting Sasuke off, anyway, the same kind of thing so many times Sasuke’s already done for him; occasionally, Naruto just likes using only his hands to do it.

Eyes slightly narrowed, Sasuke gives him a strange look. It’s not quite like he’s mentally questioning Naruto’s intelligence, not in the way he used to. Maybe it does kind of feel like something a little close to that, but it somehow seems more assessing, like there’s something about Naruto he’s trying to figure out—the same kind of look he gave when Naruto accidently discovered he apparently had a thing for Sasuke keeping his socks on during sex.

Either way, whatever it was, whatever he did, it just goes straight over his head.

It can’t be anything too bad, though, not when Sasuke lets out a light snort, giving a playful tug to the waistband of Naruto’s sweats. “Come here, Naruto.”

Naruto doesn’t even question the demand. He shifts on the bed, starts to move closer, definitely doesn’t squeal when he nearly falls over from Sasuke suddenly pulling him down. But he catches himself before he can fall on top of him, lands on his knees, holds himself up with both hands placed on either side of Sasuke’s head.

“But I thought you said—”

“I only said I want you to touch me, Naruto.”

“...oh.”

“I won’t ask you to do anything I don’t like doing.”

Naruto finds himself staring into dark eyes, at the fingers gently running through his hair, finds himself being lowered closer.

“And wanting you to touch me,” Sasuke whispers, breathes soft over Naruto’s lips, the real nice kind of low, like he wants to make sure whatever he says is only for Naruto to know.

“...yeah?”

“...that means I like doing what you want to do, too.”


	48. Enamorado de Ti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“...you really did that for them?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this still isn't RSAU, but I managed to keep it short and finished it ridiculously quick, which is all I can ask for these days, so I am taking it.
> 
> Or the one in which Sasuke may or may not have a thing for big brother Naruto. (Because that doesn't sound creepy at all.)

“Why you’d get them?”

“Get what?” Naruto says, through the low hum of the TV, from the movie they’re supposedly watching. There’s a light tug on the lobe of his left ear, and he turns his gaze away from the TV, looks to Sasuke draped comfortably over him.

“Your piercings.” With his fingers, carefully, Sasuke examines a small hooped, onyx and silver earring, slowly moving to trace the thin, matching ear cuff above it. “What made you get them?”

“Oh, those.” Naruto sits up a little. He grunts, trying to get as comfortable as he can where he’s sat at the far end of the couch, adjusting his arm around Sasuke. It’s already late, but he doesn’t really feel like moving just yet.

“Got them done a couple years back, but I only did it because Sakura and Ino wanted to get their ears pierced, and they couldn’t admit they didn’t want to do it alone—that’s why I have two in mine, one for each piercing they have in theirs.”

With another light tug on Naruto’s ear, Sasuke gives a soft hum, gives the smallest little smile that’s still able to make Naruto’s heart stutter, makes Naruto all but falter beneath Sasuke’s gentle expression that falls somewhere in between teasing and fond.

“Did you cry?”

“Really, Sasuke?” Naruto returns the teasing in dark eyes with a dry look. “Really?” He gives Sasuke’s side a slight squeeze in warning, not enough to tickle, but just enough just to make Sasuke squirm a little. “And for your information, no, I _didn’t_ cry, you jerk.”

Sasuke doesn’t try to move from the arm around him, but he lets his smile fall away, turning his head to rest on Naruto’s shoulder, gaze turned toward the TV.

“...you really did that for them?”

Naruto snorts, absently smiling at the memory of Sakura and Ino practically dragging him out the house, once he offered to get his ear pierced with them, too. “Of course I did. I know I’ve always been really bad at spoiling them, but they’re my little sisters, you know. I can’t help it.

“That’s just something girls their age want to do, I guess, but when Mom and Dad finally said they could get their ears pierced, even though they were excited about it, they were still a little nervous about the whole thing, so I just wanted to show them that it’d be okay.

“And I let them pick out the earrings they wanted me to wear, too, the same style I wear now. They said it really suits me, and I think it’s a good look. I mean, I’ve gotten compliments before—and listen, before you even start, as much as you like to pull on my ear, almost as much as you like to touch my sideburns, there’s no way you can tell me you don’t lik—”

Sasuke cuts him off with a kiss, more than a brief meeting of lips that catches Naruto off-guard, as he feels himself being pushed towards the armrest of the couch. Mindful of Naruto’s glasses, Sasuke tilts his head, resting a hand against the side of Naruto’s face, drawing him into the real lush kind of kissing Naruto quickly found himself getting addicted to, so easy to get caught up in, a casual sort of intimacy that doesn’t go any further than unhurried touches, even as his hands move to rest on Sasuke’s hips, helping to hold him steady, and he closes his eyes, sighs into the fingers gently tugging on his hair, because, yeah, Sasuke likes to pull on that, too.

Too soon, Sasuke begins to pull away, letting his hands fall.

Slowly, Naruto opens his eyes. He blinks, raising his gaze to Sasuke peering down at him. “...not that this is me complaining or anything,” he says, licking his lips, tapping his fingers against Sasuke’s side, “but, uh, what was that for?”

Sasuke just watches him, dark eyes again turned soft, as he reaches to carefully adjust the thin red frames resting on the bridge of Naruto’s nose.

“You really are anal retentive, you know that. They weren’t even crooked this time.”

“You’re just so...”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Sasuke gives a small shake of his head. “You’re just being you.”

“I’m just being me?”

“...yeah.”


End file.
